The associations between cigarette smoking and health-related behaviors among Chinese school-aged adolescents

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the interrelations between cigarette smoking and a cluster of lifestyle behaviors is scarce for the Chinese youth population. This study is conducted to identify the associations between cigarette smoking and multiple health-related behaviors in a Chinese sample of adolescents. METHODS: We used data from 2012 Zhejiang Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is a school-based survey of 19,542 adolescents that assess risk behaviors using a self-reported questionnaire. The interrelations of cigarette smoking with lifestyle behaviors were investigated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking was significantly inversely associated with breakfast (AOR = 0.58), vegetables (AOR = 0.81), fruits (AOR = 0.81), milk consumption (AOR = 0.69) and attending physical education classes (AOR = 0.69), while positively associated with soft drinks (AOR = 2.05), fast food consumption (AOR = 1.21), muscle strengthening activity (AOR = 1.67), computer use (AOR = 1.93) and alcohol drinking (AOR = 5.40). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that cigarette smoking was associated with a cluster of health-related behaviors in adolescents, which should be considered in health promotion interventions to target multiple health behaviors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0132-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.