Abstract

ALDERETE, E. et al. Cigarette consumption and ethnicity among youth in the province of Jujuy. Cuad. Fac. Humanid. Cienc. Soc., Univ. Nac. Jujuy [online]. 2009, n.37, pp.33-48. ISSN 1668-8104.

Latin America is the world region with the highest rates of youth tobacco use and widest socioeconomic gaps, yet no data is available on smoking among Indigenous peoples, the largest disadvantaged group in the region. A self-administered survey of 3131 youth enrolled in a random sample of 27 urban and rural schools was administered in 2004 in Jujuy, Argentina. Standard questions adapted from global surveys were used. Compared with Europeans (11.4%; 95% CI=6.7-15.1), Indigenous (23%; 95% CI=21-25) and mixed ethnicity (23%; 95% CI=18.9-27.1) youth had higher prevalence of current smoking. The adjusted odds of current smoking was significantly elevated for Indigenous (OR=1.9; 95% CI=1.1-3.3) and Mixed youth (OR=2.0; 95% CI=1.2-3.4) after controlling for confounders. Other psychosocial factors that were associated with current smoking included: having any friends who smoke, repeating a grade in school, depressive symptoms in previous year, more thrill seeking orientation and drinking any alcohol in the previous week. These results underscore the importance of social and cultural diversity aspects of the global tobacco epidemic.

Keywords : Smoking; Youth; Latin America; Ethnicity.

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