Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religious observance and tobacco use among a sample of Jordanian youth. Using multistage, random sampling, a cross-sectional survey of middle and high school students was conducted. Of the 950 Muslim students in the study, 32 % were daily tobacco users and 72 % prayed regularly. Frequency of praying was negatively associated with tobacco smoking. Religious observance was found to be strongly associated with tobacco smoking among Jordanian youth. Our results indicate that religion can be a culturally important tool in health professionals’ efforts for tobacco control.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Ms. Fatima Alzyoud for her work on this paper. This study was funded by a research Grant from The Hashemite University (HU).The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit it for publication.
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Alzyoud, S., Kheirallah, K.A., Ward, K.D. et al. Association of Religious Commitment and Tobacco Use Among Muslim Adolescents. J Relig Health 54, 2111–2121 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9921-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9921-4