Last modified: 2024-10-13
Abstract
Abstract: The high prevalence of smoking behaviors among Indonesian adolescents has become a serious threat to the future of the Indonesian nation. In this regard, Temanggung is a city in Central Java Province, is reported to have the highest number of adolescent smokers among other cities in Central Java Province. This quantitative study was conducted to depict the prevalence of smoking behavior among junior high school students in Ngadirejo District, Temanggung Regency. Two hundred and ten junior high school students participated in this study by responding to a smoking behavior questionnaire distributed by questionnaire with Google Forms. This study showed that most respondents knew about smoking and had never tried smoking (47.6%). Some respondents were active smokers (22.9%) and former smokers (19%), while 10.5% of students did not know about smoking and had never tried smoking. Adolescents in this study engage in smoking due to curiosity about the taste of cigarettes (35%); perception of it being socially desirable (23%); imitating their parents (15%), receiving cigarette offers (12%), joining friends (6%), imitating relatives (6 %), and influence of by cigarette advertisements (3%). This study suggested that schools and teachers need to be aware of smoking behavior and its consequences for students.