Off-reserve aboriginal kids are more than twice as likely to smoke than non-aboriginals, finds a new study.
Tara Elton-Marshall, a PhD student at the University of Waterloo, published a study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal Monday on smoking rates in off-reserve aboriginal youth.
Previous studies had found aboriginals were more likely to smoke or drink than non-aboriginals, says Elton-Marshall, but focused on people living on reserves instead of the off-reserve residents that make up most of the aboriginal population.
Elton-Marshall's team used data from their national Youth Smoking Survey (which asked about 29,000 students in Grades 9 through 12 about smoking, drug and alcohol use) to fill the gap. About 2,620 students in the survey identified themselves as being of First Nation, Inuit or Métis descent.
The team found that 24.9 per cent of off-reserve aboriginal students said they were current smokers (i.e. they had smoked at least once in the last month and had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their life), compared to just 10.4 per cent for other students. About 72.4 per cent said they did not smoke, compared to 88 per cent for other students.
Off-reserve aboriginal students were also more likely to binge-drink, try marijuana or be exposed to second-hand smoke than non-aboriginals, Elton-Marshall says. Aboriginals are the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population she notes, and these behaviours put them at greater risk for heart disease, cancer and stroke.
Why kids light up
Don Langford, chair of the board at Poundmaker's Lodge, says he's not surprised by these results. "I think a lot of it is just what is the community norm," he says. "I started smoking [at age 11] because all the other white kids were smoking too." (Langford is Métis and has quit smoking.)
Off-reserve aboriginal families generally aren't as well off as others, Langford says, which pushes many parents to smoke. "If you live in poverty, one of the few pleasures you have may be that one cigarette." That, in turn, can drive kids to smoke.
It's also easier for aboriginals to afford cigarettes, adds Jacqueline Carter, a member of Alberta Health Services' tobacco reduction unit. First Nations families can receive tax cards that allow them to buy cigarettes tax-free, which means they spend about $6 per pack instead of $10.
Most urban aboriginals are also totally cut off from their cultural roots, Langford continues — roots that emphasize the ceremonial significance of tobacco. "It's part of Mother Earth," he says, and not something to be abused.
Possible solutions
Most tobacco cessation programs ignore that cultural aspect, Elton-Marshall says, which may make them less effective. "Right now, we're using a very one-size-fits-all program," she says. "We need to have funding in Canada that's devoted to prevention and cessation programs that are culturally appropriate for off-reserve aboriginal communities."
The Nechi Institute has created such a program, says Josie Auger, the group's CEO, and has now reached about 600 people with it. "Youth are not aware of the traditional uses of tobacco," she says, and this program teaches them those uses along with the health risks of tobacco abuse.
Teen smoking is part of a broader problem of bored teens, according to Langford. "If you don't have any really active pursuits after school other than hanging around at the mall or hanging with your friends, yeah you're going to start looking at having a cigarette." Sports and other cultural after-school activities help keep kids healthy and away from drugs, he says.
Elton-Marshall's study is available online at www.cmaj.ca.
