Jose R. Calvo¹, Tadeo E. Rodriguez¹, J.A. Lopez-Cabanas¹, Veronica Acosta-DePrez, PhD, CHES², Mohammed Forouzesh, MPH, PhD³, and Lisa A. Okada, MPH². (1) Universidad de Las Palmas, Ciencias Clinicas de Salud, Gran Canaria, Spain, (2) Health Science Department, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-4902, (562)985-7698, vacosta@csulb.edu, (3) Health Science Department, California State University at Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-4902

A total sample of 1838 students participated in a study that investigated the perceptions of university students regarding smoking, and the trends in health and lifestyle behaviors among this group and the connection between the two. Demographic results showed there were 726 male and 1112 female participants. Approximately 97% were single, most of them between the ages of 20-24 years. About 26.6% declared they were current smokers, and 76.4% started smoking between 11-17 years. About 50.8% had been regular smokers since they were between the ages of 15-20 years.

When asked about their perceptions as well as health and lifestyle behaviors, 87.1% believed that nicotine is addictive. About 68.4% declared they watched TV almost everyday. Only 48.8% declared they practiced any type of sport activity. Approximately 78.8% stated they never used marijuana, 94% declared not having used cocaine and 96% stated they have not used recreational drugs such as speed, LSD, etc. About 5.2% admitted to drinking alcohol almost everyday, but as expected almost 30% of students are alcohol consumers during the weekend.

In their free time, 56.9% declared not having participated in any religious activity, and 66.2% never participated in NGO activities. Finally, 87.4% have never participated in any political activity. Most students spent most of their free time in indoor and sedentary activities. The profile of abuse of other drugs is low. Further research needs to be conducted to find out additional relationships between sedentary activity, low drug usage, and high incidence of tobacco use.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the connection between perception of university students regarding smoking and trends in health and lifestyle.
• Prioritize student's in Gran Canaria, Spain's perceptions, health and lifestyle behaviors in regards to tobacco use.

Keywords: College Students, Tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.