This annual report - Taranaki District Health Board

Exposure to Second-Hand Cigarette Smoke in the HomeAction on Smoking and Health (ASH) was established in 1982 with the aim of reducingsmoking and smoking-related premature deaths. Since 1997, ASH has conducted annualsurveys of smoking behaviour in Year 10 students, and since 1999 has collectedinformation from over 30,000 students annually. The following section uses ASH Surveydata to review the proportion of Year 10 students with parents who smoke, or who live inhomes where people smoke inside.Data Source and MethodsDefinition1. Proportion of Year 10 students with parents who smokeNumerator: ASH Surveys: Number of Year 10 students who report that one or both parents smokeDenominator: ASH Survey: Number of Year 10 Students surveyed2. Proportion of Year 10 students or who live in a home where people smoke insideNumerator: ASH Surveys: Number of Year 10 students living in a home where people smoke insideDenominator: ASH Survey: Number of Year 10 Students surveyedNotes on InterpretationNote 1: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) was established in 1982 with the aim of reducing smoking andsmoking-related premature deaths. While the Ministry of Health provides funding for the annual Year 10 (14 to15 years) Smoking Survey, ASH manages the data collection and oversees its analysis [110]. Since 1997,ASH has conducted annual surveys of smoking behaviour in Year 10 students, and since 1999 has collectedinformation from over 30,000 students annually. All schools with Year 10 students (except correspondenceschools) are invited to participate, with survey packs being sent to consenting schools. Teachers supervise thecompletion of the questionnaires in class, with questions covering a range of demographic factors andsmoking-related topics. While it has been suggested that this design means it is not always clear how thesample has been selected and how consistently the survey has been administered, the large sample size andannual frequency makes the survey useful for monitoring the smoking behaviour of Year 10 students and forunderstanding trends and risk factors for smoking initiation [111].Note 2: Since 2001 participation rates have fluctuated, with school response rates of 67% in 2002 falling to47% in 2007, before increased again to 54% in 2008, and 58% in 2010 (in 2010 the sample comprised 54% ofthe Year 10 population). Such variable participation rates however may potentially introduce a fluctuating biasinto each year’s results. For example, the 2008 survey was under under-representative of Māori students andthose from low decile schools, with this underrepresentation potentially leading to an underestimates ofsmoking rates in the 2008 sample [112]. However the 2010 survey had a very similar gender and ethnicitydistribution to the national Year 10 population [107].New Zealand Distribution and TrendsTrends in Parental and Household Smoking BehaviourIn New Zealand during 2001–2010, the proportion of Year 10 students with a parent(s)who smoked did not change significantly, being 40.2% in 2001 and 38.1% in 2010. Incontrast, the proportion of students who lived in homes where smoking occurred insidedeclined significantly, from 30.5% in 2001 to 19.1% in 2010 (Figure 95).Ethnic Differences in Parental and Household Smoking BehaviourIn New Zealand during 2001–2010, there were no significant changes in parental smokingrates for European students (34.1% in 2001 vs. 31.6% 2010), although rates for Māoristudents (65.9% in 2001 to 62.7% in 2010), Pacific students (49.9% in 2001 to 44.9%2010) and Asian students (29.9% in 2001 to 22.8% to 2010) did decline significantly during2006–2010. Throughout this period, parental smoking rates remained higher for Māori >Pacific > European > Asian students (Figure 93).Ethnic differences were also evident in exposure to cigarette smoke in the home. During2001–2010, the proportion of 14–15 year olds living in homes where people smoked insidedeclined for all ethnic groups, with rates falling from 47.5% to 31.7% for Māori, from 34.7%to 19.7% for Pacific, from 27.1% to 16.1% for European and from 20.0% to 11.7% forAsian students. These declines were significant for all four ethnic groups during 2006–2010 (Figure 93).Second-hand Cigarette Smoke Exposure - 207