Tobacco use among Japanese schoolchildren: results from preliminary study of Japan adolescent smoking survey (JASS)

Over the past two decades many studies have shown associationsbetween smoking and increased health problems. Smoking amongchildren is especially a major public health concern. Preventingyoung people from developing a smoking habit is an importantgoal for school health education. In Japan, it is difficult to collect accurate data regardingadolescent smoking behaviour, because in Japan smoking underthe age of 20 is prohibited by law. Therefore, a large surveyof smoking habits of young Japanese people was overdue. Numeroussurveys have been carried out since the late 1970s, but thesehave been limited in sample size or geographic area. The Japan Adolescent Smoking Survey (JASS) is probably the largestnumerical survey of smoking behaviour and opinions of schoolchildrenever carried out in Japan. Here the authors show the preliminaryresults of JASS. The goals of the JASS study are to standardize the method ofmeasurement in the smoking behaviour of young children. We believeit is now possible to compare national and international smokingrates of young people, and further, to develop and evaluateteaching methods about smoking for schoolchildren on the basisof this standardization. This report presents the tobacco use among schoolchildren inJapan.