Abstract
A cohort study was designed to explore over 200 primary schoolchildren's (ages 4–7) perspectives on smoking in the context of their own lives and subsequently, to assess any changes in these perspectives over time. Results showed that, in general, the children had a negative disposition about the habit, which did not dissipate over the 3-year study period. They had a fairly substantive understanding of smoking, in particular of the consequences to health, which increased in breadth and depth over time and they acknowledged the central role that the family played within the 'culture' of smoking. Such results have implications for the development of effective school-based smoking prevention strategies.
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