ORIGINAL PAPER Jayapura Teenagers Smoking Behavior Lucky Herawati 1 • Johan Arief Budiman 2 • W. Haryono 1 • Wiwiek Mulyani 3 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Smoking behavior is a threat for Indonesian teenagers, including in the city of Jayapura, Papua pro- vince. The purpose of this study was to access Jayapura teenagers smoking behavior and knowledge including parents and other family members. The study was con- ducted on 78 respondents (grade 7, aged 11–14 years old), using cluster random sampling for selecting the public and private junior high school in Jayapura. The data collected was smoking behavior of respondents, parents and other family members (using self-reported questionnaire), and respondents’ knowledge about the dangers of smoking (using tests with Cronbach’s alpha 0.701). Data were analyzed descriptively and analytically using Chi-square, 95 % level of significant. The results showed 29.3 % of teenagers, 69.23 % of parents and 25.6 % of other family members were smokers, their knowledge was low (an average score of 60.81 out of 100), there was no significant statistical relationship between knowledge and smoking behavior among respondents (p = 0.079), and there is no significant relationship between teenagers behavior with the behavior of the parents (p = 0.609) and other family members (p = 0.578), 87 % of teenagers became smokers because there were individuals who smoke at home. Keywords Teenagers Á Knowledge Á Smoking behavior Introduction There are three serious problems that threaten the teen- agers’ future i.e. smoking behavior, alcohol and narcotics, psychotropic drugs, or hazardous substances. The teenager, 40 % of 210 million populations, is still a potential target of a third of the hazardous material [1]. Among the three of hazardous materials, the earliest materials known to the public especially by teenagers are cigarettes. Smoking behavior was the gateway of the other behavior, alcohol and drugs [2]. Either ‘‘Smoking’’ or ‘‘Being healthy’’ is a decision that must be chosen by individuals who already have sufficient information about smoking and its danger. Actually, teen- agers (aged 12–14 years old) have not possessed fully enough information about it. They believe that smoking can withstand hunger, increase self-esteem, look more mature, and give a positive image for them. Smoking behavior in teenagers is a serious problem because it is the parents who fulfill their needs in general including cigar- ettes. For the poor, it can substitute food, education and health needs for the family. Lately, teenager inducement to smoke cigarette is getting earlier, i.e. 8–14 years [2]. The younger the teenager know how to smoke, the longer the family burden to bear the consequences. The impact of smoking on health should also be responsible either by the smoker or his family, namely as a result of passive smoking. Passive smokers, than smokers themselves, are higher risk for chronic diseases development. The short term impact of smoking for health are coughing, fatigue, shortness of breath, and the absence of ability to smell and taste the flavor, while the long-term impact are lips, tongue, throat and lungs cancer, respiratory disorders, tuberculosis, heart disease, hypertension, osteo- porosis, kidney disorders, fertility disorders, skin wrinkles & Johan Arief Budiman drg.johanarief@yahoo.com 1 Health Polytechnic Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2 Health Polytechnic Jakarta II, Jl. Hang Jebat III/F3, Kebayoran, Jakarta 12120, Indonesia 3 Health Polytechnic Jayapura, Jayapura, Indonesia 123 J Community Health DOI 10.1007/s10900-016-0232-4