Peer pressure sees more teens smoke

Peer pressure is a big reason why teenagers are smoking more.

Peer pressure and social deprivation are thought to be behind a jump in the number of Northland teenagers smoking, according to experts.

The survey from Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand (ASH) found 7.08 per cent of Northland Year 10 students, normally 14 or 15 years old, surveyed last year were daily smokers. That number was 4.85 per cent in 2013.

Northland District Health Board general manager of mental health and addiction services Kim Tito said the reasons behind why teens smoked were complex.

"The ASH Year 10 survey shows an increase in regular and daily smoking in Northland compared to the previous years and this is of concern," Mr Tito said.

"However some of this may be explained by sampling variability due to changes in the number of schools that participate from year to year."

The number of Northland teenagers who said they were regular smokers was 11.86 per cent, up from 7.38 per cent in 2013. Northland had the second highest rate of daily and regular smokers in the country after South Canterbury. The number of teenagers who said they had never smoked decreased to 63.85 per cent from 72.52 per cent in 2013.

Kamo High School principal Gavin Greenfield, whose school took part in the survey, said the biggest factor was peer pressure.

Even the price of a pack of cigarettes, the average being about $20, did not appear to be a deterrent, he said.

"There is still a number of students who smoke."

Teenagers most commonly gain access to cigarettes or tobacco through their peers and often first try smoking with them, Mr Tito said.

"Even though initially they don't like the taste or feeling they persevere to be part of the group and it is not long before many of them are nicotine dependent."

Smoking rates among teenagers were particularly high in areas of economic and social deprivation like Northland, Mr Tito said. Reducing smoking among Maori youth, who have the highest rate, is a priority for health leaders, he said. That included giving young people a voice and include them as part of the solution.

"Discouraging teen smoking requires a range of strategies both direct and in direct," he said.

"Efforts to reduce the rate of adult smoking by promoting and supporting quit attempts will help to de-normalise smoking in families and households."