Determinants of Adolescent Smoking Behavior in Aceh: A Knowledge and Attitude Study

Smoking is a serious public health problem in Indonesia. The prevalence of smoking among adolescents in Aceh is high, with 2.7% smoking daily and 3.2% smoking occasionally. Knowledge and attitude toward the dangers of smoking play an important role in adolescent smoking behavior. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between knowledge and attitude toward smoking behavior among adolescents in Aceh. This cross-sectional study involved 304 junior high school students in grades 1 and 2 in Aceh Besar. Data were collected using a modified questionnaire from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey and analyzed using the chi-square test. Most respondents who smoked did not realize that smoking can cause lung disease, increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, nicotine in cigarettes can cause addiction, cigarettes contain more than 7000 chemicals, and adolescent smokers tend to have lower academic achievement compared to non-smokers. The attitudes of respondents who do not smoke are more positive towards the dangers of smoking, such as considering smoking harmful to health, very detrimental to themselves, and most likely to cause addiction. Better knowledge and attitudes are associated with lower adolescent smoking behavior. Efforts to increase knowledge and form positive attitudes toward the dangers of smoking need to be carried out through health education and health promotion in schools.