A new survey of teenagers by German researchers show that one in five teens and preteens smokes cigarettes.
The study examined more than 7000 adolescents and their parents. Results showed that 20.5 percent of boys and 20.3 percent of girls smoked. By age 17, the rate of smoking rises to 40 percent of teens, with the average teen smoker taking up the habit at 14.
Whether friends smoked was found to be a strong predictor of individual smoking status, while parental smoking did not have a marked impact.
FULL TEXT: Smoking and Passive Smoking Exposure in Young People (PDF)