More mainland girls smoke than officials claim, says researcher

The number of mainland girls who smoke may be higher than the authorities recognise, a Shanghai-based health research team has found.

According to a two-year study led by Ma Jin of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's school of public health, up to 14 per cent of girls on the mainland could be smokers, much higher than the rate estimated in an earlier government study.

The China Tobacco Control Blueprint (2012-2015), issued by seven state ministries and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration last year, put the number of mainland teenagers who smoke at 11.5 per cent. It said only 3.6 per cent of girls smoked, compared with 18.4 per cent of boys.

Ma's study, published in The Lancet medical journal last month, also reported that the number of adult women smokers on the mainland reported by authorities could be a third lower than the actual figure.

Ma said his survey gave a more accurate picture of mainland tobacco-use in comparison with a similar study led by State University of New York Professor Gary Giovino published in the same journal in August.

According to Giovino's study, which analysed tobacco use in 16 countries, more than half of mainland males over the age of 15 smoked. The figure was only 2 per cent for females. The study estimated the mainland has 301 million smokers. The results from his study matched estimates of mainland authorities.