Abstract

Teachers are considered to be one of the most effective professional groups in antismoking action. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the attitudes of teachers towards smoking, their knowledge about smoking-related disorders and opinions about legal precautions against smoking. A questionnaire was given to 172 high school teachers (50.6% male, 49.4% female, mean age 38.3±7.8 years).

87.2% has at least once tried smoking through their lifetime, 40.7% was current smokers. Smoking prevalance among males (48.3%) was higher than that among females (32.5%). The most important factor for beginning smoking was the effect of environment (38.4%). All of the study group was aware of the hazards of smoking and most of them had knowledge about smoking-related diseases but there were some significant differences between smokers and non-smokers in their opinions about smoking and legal precautions. It is concluded that the opinions of the teachers about smoking is worth considering and the education in smoking prevention should be started with these educators.