Youth Attitudes towards Water Pipe Smoking in Amman -Jordan

Aims: to investigate attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions related to water pipe (wp) smoking among school children in amman, jordan. materials and methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted in 2006 – 2007 of ten public and private schools in amman, jordan and a total of 513 seventh and tenth grade students were interviewed (32.8% males and 67.2% females). surveys were conducted to assess the attitudes; knowledge, use of, and norms about water pipe use amongst youth, and the data were analyzed using stata and spss. results: two hundred sixty five of the students surveyed (52.2%) had tried water pipe smoking before. about a quarter (26.5%) of the participants had tried a water pipe when they were≤10 years of age. smoking mothers had more of an influence in attracting youth towards water pipe smoking. conclusions: an anti-smoking campaign should start at early ages. wp hazards must be incorporated into the school curriculum. wp smoking in public places such as restaurants should be restricted.