Of about 21,000 students interviewed last year, 11 percent of them smoked, according to the results of the survey released Tuesday by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health.

The findings also showed 20 percent schoolboys aged 16 or above were smokers, compared to 13 percent of schoolgirls of the same age. It means that one in five of the students in this age group smokes.

Experts attributed the growing number of teenage smokers to tobacco producers’ promotion of their products through sponsorship of sports events and creative functions.

The fashion industry has very often joined big tobacco companies to sell clothes and shoes with glamorous models who smokes, according to the council.

(Xinhua 11/22/2000)