Trends in Tobacco Use of Rural, Northeast Missouri Middle School Students
Mitch A. Stewart* and Jon Jones
Dr. Carol Cox, Faculty Mentor
As part of a substance abuse prevention needs assessment, self-reported trends in tobacco use and ease of obtaining tobacco were tracked for rural Northeast Missouri middle school students: 2005-2010. Tobacco use and perception results of a self-report Middle School Student Survey on a random sample of 450 middle school students every year were analyzed (2005-2010) to describe changes over time. Between 2005-10, tobacco past 30-day use had increased from 2.87% to 10.43%, percent of students who ever used tobacco increased from 9.17% to 27.17%, and perception of ease of obtaining tobacco increased from 35.8% to 50.10%. The proportion of middle school students at this school that ever used tobacco is higher than the state average and all use has increased over those years. It is recommended that evidence-based prevention interventions be included in the school or after school curricula.
Keywords:
Topic(s):Health Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 107-3
Location: MG 2001
Time: 8:30