The New Zealand (NZ) government has set a goal to reduce smoking prevalence to 5% by 2025. Furthermore, it wants to achieve this for all population groups, even though current smoking prevalences are significantly higher (45%) among Māori (indigenous New Zealanders), Pacific peoples (31%) and those living in the most deprived neighborhoods (38%). Data from the NZ Year 10 smoking survey indicate that girls develop addiction faster than boys. Using data from the 2002 and 2003 Year 10 surveys we examined differences in the speed of onset of tobacco addiction between youth of Asian, European, Māori and Pacific Island origins.

Individuals have lost full autonomy over their smoking when quitting becomes unpleasant or difficult. We examined autonomy in relation to smoking frequency and lifetime cigarette use. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by three convenience samples of Year 10 students (ages 14-15) in New Zealand between 2002 and 2004 (n=96,156). The Hooked On Nicotine Checklist was used to measure diminished autonomy. Diminished autonomy was reported by 46% of subjects who smoked less often than monthly and by 25%-30% of current smokers who had smoked only one cigarette in total. The prevalence of diminished autonomy increased with increasing frequency of current use and with increasing lifetime use. Symptoms developed earlier among girls than boys. The data confirm previous reports that diminished autonomy appears soon after the onset of intermittent tobacco use and extends this literature by providing the first description of how diminished autonomy develops in relation to the total number of cigarettes smoked. These data suggest that smoking one cigarette in total can prompt a loss of autonomy.

OBJECTIVES: As smoking is very common in R-rated films, we sought to determine if viewing R-rated films is associated with adolescent smoking. METHODS: Three annual cross-sectional surveys conducted of 88,505 Year 10 students of largely European, Maori, Asian or Pacific Islander ethnicity in secondary schools in New Zealand between 2002 and 2004. Outcomes of interest were: intention to smoke among never smokers; past experimentation with smoking among current non-smokers; current smoking status; and current frequency of smoking. RESULTS: Dose-response relationships were observed between the frequency of viewing R-rated films and all outcome measures controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, peer smoking, parental smoking, socioeconomic status, pocket money and household smoking rules. Compared to never viewing R-rated films, viewing at least weekly nearly tripled the relative risk (2.81; 95% confidence interval 2.57, 3.09) of never smokers being susceptible to smoking, and more than doubled the risk of both past experimentation (2.28; 95% CI 2.12, 2.45) and smoking > /=monthly (2.31; 95% CI 2.10, 2.54). Each of these risks was seen across all ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results extend the association that has been demonstrated between viewing R-rated films and current smoking in American youth by demonstrating the same association in youth of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds in New Zealand.