PREVENTION OF SMOKING IN
A SCHOOL - BASED HEALTH PROGRAMME AMONG MALAYSIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN -
HELIC STUDY
Mazidah AR1, Zabidi Azhar MH1, Quah BS1, Maznah I2,
Abdul Wahab J3, Faris Irfan CY1, Hafezi MZ1
1 University Science Malaysia, Malaysia
2 University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
3 International Islamic University, Malaysia
The prevalence of smoking among primary school
children had increased in recent years. About 6.4 % of school children in a
rural area in this country had started smoking by eight years old. The
Helic study group was formed to promote healthy lifestyles among school
children.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a school
based health programme on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of smoking
among school children.
Methodology: A total of 650 standard two students in
8 primary schools were randomly selected for the study. The students were
interviewed using a standard questionnaire pre and post intervention on the
KAP of smoking. The 6 weeks intervention programme consists of teaching,
demonstration and group discussion using educational materials. The scores
for KAP pre and post intervention were compared.
Results:
The mean score for pre and post intervention on KAP was 33.7, 6.4,
4.9 and 39.7, 6.9 and 5.9 respectively. The group of school children with a
low mean score showed a higher change of score after intervention compared
to the group of school children who had high mean score.
Conclusion: This intervention package on KAP towards
smoking has shown to be beneficial. It is hope that this intervention
programme would be introduce in the school health curriculum as an
effective primary prevention health programme towards reduction of tobacco
use among school children.