Publications
Global Youth Tobacco Survey ( GYTS)
The Serbia GYTS includes data on prevalence of cigarette and other tobacco use as well as information on five determinants of tobacco use: access/availability and price, exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS), cessation, media and advertising, and school curriculum. These determinants are components Serbia could include in a comprehensive tobacco control program. The Serbia GYTS was a school-based survey of students in grade 7th and 8th of primary school and 1st grade of secondary school (age 13 – 15) conducted in 2008. A two-stage cluster sample design was used to produce representative data for Serbia. At the first stage, schools were selected with probability proportional to enrollment size. At the second stage, classes were randomly selected and all students in selected classes were eligible to participate. The school response rate was 100.0%, the student response rate was 89.8%, the class response rate was 99.6% and the overall response rate was 89.4%. A total of 4,727 students participated in the Serbia GYTS of which 3,350 were aged 13 to 15 years, of whom 1498 were boys and 1852 girls.
Prevalence42.7% of students had ever smoked cigarettes (Boys = 41.4%, Girls = 43.3%)10.4% currently use any tobacco product (Boys = 10.8%, Girls = 9.6%)8.5% currently smoke cigarettes (Boys = 8.8%, Girls = 8.3%)2.1% currently daily cigarette smokers (Boys = 2.3%, Girls = 1.9%)5.8% used any form of tobacco other than cigarettes in the past 30 days (Boys = 5.5%, Girls = 5.8%)36.8% ever smokers initiated smoking before age ten (Boys = 43.5%, Girls = 32.8%)19.0% of never smokers are likely to initiate smoking next year (Boys = 16.2%, Girls = 20.9%)
Access and Availability - Current Smokers22.4% usually smoke at home76.4% buy cigarettes in a store78.7% who bought cigarettes in a store were NOT refused purchase because of their age
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke (SHS)76.9% live in homes where others smoke in their presence71.9% are around others who smoke in places outside their home86.5% think smoking should be banned from public places65.0% think smoke from others is harmful to them65.9% have one or more parents who smoke12.7% have most or all friends who smoke
Cessation - Current Smokers47.5% want to stop smoking52.5% tried to stop smoking during the past year81.2% have ever received help to stop smoking11.9% always have or feel like having a cigarette first thing in the morning
Media and Advertising92.1% saw anti-smoking media messages in the past 30 days16.1% have an object with a cigarette brand logo4.8% were offered free cigarettes by a tobacco company representative
School58.0% had been taught in class, during the past year, about the dangers of smoking49.0% had discussed in class, during the past year, reasons why people their age smoke54.5% had been taught in class, during the past year, the effects of tobacco use |
Highlights
• Over 1 in 10 students currently use any form of tobacco; 8,5% currently smoke cigarettes; 5.8% currently use some other form of tobacco.
• SHS exposure is high – more than three-quarters of students live in homes where others smoke; 7 in 10 students are around others who smoke in places outside of their home; almost two-thirds of students have one or more parent who smoke.
• More than 8 in 10 students think smoking should be banned from public places.
• Close to 5 in 10 students who are currently smoking indicated that they want to stop smoking now; over 5 in 10 students currently smoking tried to stop during the past year.
• More than 9 in 10 students saw anti-smoking messages while over 5 in 10 had been taught in class about the dangers of smoking, and about the same number had discussed in class about smoking as a risk factor
