Abstract:
Background: Smoking is a public health problem with a rising prevalence. A large percentage of smokers start smoking during adolescence, affecting their school achievement. Objectives: The current study is aiming to 1. Assess prevalence of smoking among school students in an Egyptian rural area.2.  Identify different types of smoking among them. 3. Identify the causes of being smoking an issue of concern.
Methods:  the study was a cross sectional study in which sample size was calculated and three hundred students (in the academic year 2016\2017) were randomly selected from Monshaat Sultan preparatory and secondary school students and proportionally allocated. A predesigned questionnaire was used to determine socioeconomic status of them, pattern and condition of smoking among them. Children`s scores were revised in school records.Results: Prevalence of smoking among adolescent students was 14%, about 52% of them were secondary school students, and 44.2 % of them were incorporated in work. Smoking substances among smokers were cigarettes (86%) followed by hashish (4.7%) & St-El hosn (4.7%). Mean scholastic achievement among smoking students was (2.11±0.87) compared to (3.37±0.49) among non-smokers and lastly the frequency of smoking among working children was high as bout (78%) of daily smokers were working. Conclusion: This study concluded that smoking among adolescents is an issue of concern due to its prevalence, which was 14% in an Egyptian rural area also due to its drawbacks on scholastic achievements of smoking children who were incorporated in child work to get money for buying cigarettes.