Socioeconomic predictors of smoking and smoking frequency in urban China: evidence of smoking as a social function

Abstract

A number of previous studies have documented the worsening smoking problems in China. This paper identifies several key socioeconomic variables associated with smoking among urban working adults and calls researchers' attention to the important function of cigarette smoking as a social connection builder in China. This study argues that a smoking prevention and education program should place more emphasis on making smoking socially unnecessary and/or unacceptable because of the continuing increase in the number of smokers and the low desire to quit among smokers. The findings also suggest that while socioeconomic characteristics are excellent in predicting whether a person smokes or not, they are dismal in predicting smoking frequency among working adults.