Blame pop: teen smoking linked to fathers, idols
Pop stars and parents - specifically, fathers - have emerged as the biggest influences on children who smoke.
A survey by the Youth Smoking Prevention Committee, released yesterday, found that 85 per cent of youngsters who admitted smoking said their fathers did too.
Committee vice-chairman Thomas Tse Lin-chung said it indicated the power parents had over their children as role models.
And while 65 per cent of those interviewed said they disapproved of people they saw smoking in magazines, TV programmes and films, 56 per cent said that they did not mind if their idols lit up - reflecting the strong leverage stars have on the young, Mr Tse said.
'The problem of youth smoking is getting more and more serious and the age of smokers is getting younger and younger. Our society must face up to the problem and proactively get to the root of the problem,' Mr Tse said.
The committee, with the help of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific studies, interviewed 1,002 youngsters aged between 12 and 17 last month.
Although only 5 per cent of them admitted smoking in the past three months, Mr Tse said he believed this did not reflect the true picture because the children were interviewed by phone - probably at home, and in the presence of their parents.
Daniel Ho Sai-yin of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Community Medicine agreed that more youngsters, especially young females, were now taking up the habit.
A 1999 survey conducted by his department found that 12 per cent of Form Three girls had smoked in the previous month, compared with only 6 per cent in a 1994 poll.
One reason behind the worrying trend is the marketing strategies adopted by big tobacco companies, which see women and the young as the next big markets to explore, Professor Ho said.
Director of Health Lam Ping-yan has said the government may ban all cigarette advertising. It also intends to ban smoking in restaurants and workplaces, an idea first proposed in 2001.
