Reduction of smoking in Dutch adolescents over the past decade and its health gains: a repeated cross-sectional study

Background: Smoking is the main preventable lifestyle-related risk factor threatening human health. In this study, time trends in smoking behaviour between 1996 and 2005 among adolescents enrolled in secondary school were assessed. Methods: In 1996, 2001 and 2005, a survey was conducted in the south-eastern region of the Netherlands. All students in second and fourth year of secondary education (1996: n = 20 000; 2001: n = 27 500; 2005: n = 24 000) were asked to complete a questionnaire about their smoking behaviour. A simulation model was used to estimate lifetime health gains related to the... Mehr ...