Children’s Idea about Cigarettes and Smoking

Background: tobacco smoking is attributed to pediatric disease and pediatric epidemics. this study aimed to indicate the attitudes of four- to six-year-old children toward cigarettes. methods: this cross sectional study was conducted by a questionnaire in 2011. hundred and forty-five, children, aged four to six years, were randomly selected from eight kindergartens located in all four areas of ahvaz. descriptive statistics was used to analyze demographic data, chi-square test to compare qualitative variables and pearson correlation coefficient to compare quantitative data. results: results of the study showed that 76.4% of children knew what a cigarette is; 41.2% had talked about smoking with their parents; 1.4% had asked to buy one due to the attractive appearance of cigarette packs; 27.8% imitated the act of smoking. children’s attitude toward smoking showed that 1.4% of them took smoking as a good act, 91.4% believed that smoking was a bad act and 7.1% had no idea about smoking. conclusions: since parents’ behaviors affect their children, it is advisable to implement effective interventional programs to increase parents’ awareness about smoking and its harmful environmental effects.