Smoking rates among teenagers in the Republic have increased significantly over the past two years despite the introduction of the smoking ban, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday.
Figures presented at the conference to mark World No Tobacco Day showed that while smoking rates fell immediately after the smoking ban was introduced in 2004, they are rising again. In February 2004 some 18.5 per cent of 15 to 18-year-olds were smoking. This dropped to 17.5 per cent in March 2005 but rose to 21.5 per cent in March 2007.
Similarly, among 19 to 35-year-olds, smoking rates fell after the ban was introduced, from 33.8 per cent in February 2004 to 30 per cent in March 2005. However, rates in March this year were back at 33.8 per cent.
Among 36 to 70-year-olds, some 23.4 per cent were smokers in February 2004. This fell to 21.4 per cent in March 2005 but rose again to 22.1 per cent in March this year.
Prof Kenneth Warner, dean of the the University of Michigan's school of public health, told delegates at the conference, hosted by the Office of Tobacco Control, that this did not mean the smoking ban had been a failure. It was of major benefit to the health of Irish people who would otherwise be exposed to the effects of passive smoking in the workplace, he said.
Prof Luke Clancy, director general of the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society, said he believed smoking rates had increased among younger age groups because there had been no rise in the price of tobacco for two years.
The increase in smoking among young adults since the ban was not fully explained, he added, but said it may be related to immigrants in that age group coming into the State who were heavy smokers.
New research presented by Dublin City University demonstrated that getting children involved in physical activity from a young age makes them less likely to take up smoking. The research was conducted among almost 5,000 second-level students aged 15 to 17 in Dublin, the midlands and the northeast between 2003 and 2006.
It found that 18 per cent of participants were smokers and, of these, 45 per cent were boys and 54 per cent were girls.
Dr Catherine Woods, who presented the findings, said boys who did not take regular exercise were 62 per cent more likely to smoke, while girls who were not regularly active were 27 per cent more likely to smoke.
The study also found that smokers were much less likely to be regularly physically active. "Non-smokers were significantly fitter. Children who were smoking were significantly less fit than children who were not smoking."
Dr Woods added: "What we can learn from this data is that, by getting children involved in physical activity from a young age, the likelihood of them getting involved in smoking is less.
"So if we want to prevent children from getting involved in smoking behaviour in the first place, let's put some more funding into actually giving them opportunities to be involved in structured forms of physical activity."
The study, co-funded by the Irish Heart Foundation and Health Service Executive, found that one in five of the smokers were overweight or obese.