Smoking rates among adults and children are running at more than 50 per cent above target levels, according to a major health study published yesterday.
The National Health & Lifestyle Surveys, the largest-ever such study undertaken in the State, found that, despite increased anti-smoking measures, 33 per cent of those between 15 and 17 are regular cigarette smokers and 31 per cent of adults are regular or occasional smokers.
It also found that children are experimenting with cigarettes at a younger age, with 51 per cent of boys and 48 per cent of girls admitting to smoking at some stage.
The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, conceded that the findings were disappointing, especially in the light of the Government's target to reduce the proportion of smokers by 1 per cent a year to 20 per cent of the population by next year.
However, he said the Department intended to increase its antismoking campaigns and had committed about £500,000 to a current drive. He would also push for further increases in the price of cigarettes, although this alone would not stop people smoking. In addition, he said, new legislation to bring Ireland into line with an EU directive banning tobacco advertising would be introduced next year.
The Irish Heart Foundation called for further measures to discourage people from starting to smoke. "Adequate legislation should be in place to prevent young people getting access to cigarettes . . . and taxation on cigarettes should be increased," the organisation said in a statement.
Mr Cowen said he had established a policy group to examine whether any new legislation was needed. "The group is chaired by a senior official of my Department and is taking a comprehensive look at all aspects of our antitobacco activities and will be reporting to me shortly."
The Minister said that, whatever about the need for new legislation, he recognised the need to improve the enforcement of existing laws.
More than 6,500 adults and 8,500 young people participated in the postal survey, which was commissioned by the Department of Health and carried out by the Department of Health Promotion at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Mr Cowen said his Department intended to use the survey as a guide to inform future policy and public health planning.
The study comprised two separate areas of research: the Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (Slan) and the Irish Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey. It divided respondents not only into age groups, but by social classes, separating people between professional workers (SC1), managerial and technical (SC2), non-manual (SC3), skilled manual (SC4), semiskilled (SC5) and unskilled (SC6) categories.
In relation to smoking, the study found that boys started to smoke at an earlier age. However, by age 15-17, smoking rates for girls exceeded those of boys, particularly among those in the lower-skilled categories.
In the SC5-SC6 category, 40 per cent of older girls smoked, compared to 28 per cent of older boys.
Prof Cecily Kelleher, head of the Galway research unit which undertook the study, said this finding warranted more attention in school health education programmes. She said there should be a greater focus on environmental issues which young people would be sympathetic to.
More attention should also be given to exploring the different reasons why people took up smoking. "Some very assertive young people take up smoking, which is rather different from others, who do it because they are shy."
Prof Kelleher said recent research undertaken in Galway had found that more fashion-conscious girls were more likely to smoke, while the reverse was true for boys. She suggested removing cigarettes from the Consumer Price Index in order to take away a disincentive against further tax increases.
Among adults, the study found that smoking was highest in the 18-34 age bracket (39 per cent). This compared with 30 per cent in the 35-45 age bracket and just 20 per cent in the 55-plus bracket.
The prevalence of smoking was slightly higher among men (32 per cent) than women (31 per cent). The average number of cigarettes smoked daily ranged from 11.8 for women aged 18-34 in the SC1SC2 category to 22.9 for men aged 35-54 in the SC5-SC6 category.
Some 63 per cent of smokers consumed more than 10 cigarettes a day.
