According to a study led by Dr. Michelle C. Kegler of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., there are some cultural and ethnic differences in parenting styles and practices regarding smoking.

For the study, Kegler and her research team held 132 focus groups with African American, Native American, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and white youth from Alabama, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington.

While teens of every ethnicity said their families encouraged them not to smoke, American Indian and white youth were more likely than others to say that their parents gave them the freedom to make their own decisions about smoking.

"Mine figure I'm old enough to make that decision," one white female said.

The study further found that white parents in particular allowed their children to smoke at home on the condition that they buy their own cigarettes.

"Parents should definitely talk to their kids about not smoking, but they should also think carefully about the other messages they are sending about smoking -- whether they allow smoking in the home, whether cigarettes are easily accessible in the home, and what messages other relatives, like grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, are giving their children about smoking," Kegler said.

The report is published in the August 2002 issue of Health Education & Behavior.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Your Turn! Post a public comment (read guidelines):

Name:
Comment: (limit 200 words)
Enter this word (help):	Change

GUIDELINES: 
To keep this feature useful for all, please:

1. Keep it clean, courteous, and on-topic. Comments are meant for thoughtful discussion of the article published above.
   
   
2. Do not post promotional links to organizations, products or services, or personal requests for assistance (get help).
   
   
3. Proof your comments carefully, use good spelling and punctuation, and don't use ALL CAPS. Comments are published immediately and cannot be edited.

Deceptive, slanderous and commercially-motivated posts are prohibited. We reserve the right to remove comments not conforming to these guidelines. (Report a comment).

Have questions or feedback? Contact us.