Risky behavior in youth: an analysis of the factors influencing youth smoking decisions in Canada

This article considers smoking behavior among young people in Canada, looking in particular for evidence on why young people take up smoking. Using data from the National Population Health Survey, we find that reported knowledge about the health effects of own smoking is less useful than might have been expected in explaining why some young people smoke but that responses to a question about whether people worry too much about the health effects of second-hand smoke is informative. We also find that for subjects too young to have begun their own household formation, the number of people in their household who regularly smoke in the house is an informative variable. In particular, among young people aged 12-14 years, having a household member who regularly smokes inside the house (as opposed to having none) increases the probability that the young person will smoke by 2%, whereas for the those aged 15-19, having a household member who regularly smokes inside the house increases the probability that the young person will smoke by 18%.