Theme: School health.

Aims: To characterize the adolescents’ habits of smoking in a Portuguese School; to identify if the adolescents have information on the harmful effects of tobacco and their health education needs.

Methods: Quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study. Data collection in 2011 through a self-answered questionnaire.

Results: The sample comprised 441 students; mean age of 14.5 years old; 53.1% were male; 18,6% were smokers; boys smoked more than girls; they started to smoke between 7-18; the tobacco consumption is significantly related with: age (p<0,001); gender (p=0,002); interest of the family about the adolescents’ problems (p=0,028) among others. The adolescents have information about the harmful effects of tobacco and the ones interested in receiving more information wanted it from the health professionals.

Conclusions: Prevention and delaying the age of initiation of consumption should be taken into account in a target intervention plan, which should be led by the school health nurse.