Chapter+2+(Literature+Review)

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Kegler (1999) discovered that young smokers desire to appear mature, self-confident and independent and to attain a high personality profile. This is one of the reasons why student in University Malaysia Pahang prefer to smoke. The percentage among students who are smokers will be done by questionnaire. Felimban and Jarallah (1994) conducted a study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to examine the attitudes and practice of secondary school boys towards smoking. They surveyed 1312 randomly selected students using a questionnaire and found a smoking prevalence of 21.8% in the study sample. They also noted that prevalence rates increased with increase in age with more than two-thirds of the ever-smoked group starting the habit after age 10 years. Of the participants as a whole more than 72% consumed less than 10 cigarettes per day and 67.3% never smoked at school.   Many studies focused on reasons of smoking were conducted. In 1994, Felimban and Jarallah conducted a study on 1312 randomly secondary school boys selected student in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and discovered that the most common cause of smoking suggested by the students was boredom (29.1%), followed by habit (23.5%) and imitation (17.1%). Kegler (1999) also discovered that there are many reasons for smoking, such as alleviation of stress, life problems, peer pressure, social acceptance issues, family history (parental modelling of smoking behaviour), lower educational attainment, and lower economic status. Mean, there is a lot of reason that make students or people to start smoking. But, it is still depend on their awareness that smoking is good or not.   Smith (1991) discovered that great majority of students (smokers and non-smokers alike) recognise that smoking is harmful to the health. Contrarily, Greenlund (1997) discovered that students who tried cigarettes had more adverse attitudes and beliefs about the effects of smoking compared to non-smokers. Royal College of Physicians (1983) discovered that smokers are responsible for their own health, yet most are still unaware of the grave dangers of smoking or of ways they could avoid them. Hill and Gray (1989) found most smokers did not believe that smoking caused illness and most of them thought that only those who smoke heavily (by which they meant those who smoke more cigarettes than they do themselves) are likely to get serious illnesses caused by smoking. Royal College of Physicians (1983) discovered that about one-third of all premature deaths caused by smoking occur in smokers who smoke less than 20 cigarettes per day.  In summary, many studies have estimated the prevalence of smoking within general and particular populations, notably school and university students. The age of initiation of smoking has been determined for some populations; as well as reasons for smoking and related environmental factors that influence children and young adults to take up smoking are also determined. Also, student knowledge about the hazards of smoking and attitudes toward quitting has been investigated.  Smoking habits among university students have been described and predictors of smoking, such as peer group influences, explored. There are some studies about the prevalence, practices, and attitudes towards smoking university students. They assessed the knowledge about health consequences of smoking and explored important aspects of knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of smokers and non-smokers. Few studies have been conducted among females. Most East Mediterranean studies have concentrated and focused on males, and reports of gender differences should be viewed with a particular caution because these differences may be due to varying degrees of expressiveness by gender rather than true gender differences in factors and values of smoking.  Given the gaps found in the literature review, this research study is needed to understand the habits, attitudes, and practices in relation to smoking among university students. <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">