Table 3.
Age at Initiation of Health Risk Behaviors by Gender
| Age of Initiation | Femalea n (%) | Maleb n (%) | P valuec |
| Smoking cigarettesd | .075 | ||
| <13 y | 35 (8.2) | 58 (13.0) | |
| 13 y or older | 108 (25.4) | 107 (24.0) | |
| Never smoked | 282 (66.3) | 281 (63.0) | |
| Drinking alcohole | <.001* | ||
| <13 y | 106 (24.9) | 135 (30.1) | |
| 13 y or older | 226 (53.2) | 171 (38.2) | |
| Never indulged | 93 (21.9) | 142 (31.7) | |
| Using marijuanaf | <.001* | ||
| <13 y | 46 (10.9) | 91 (20.5) | |
| 13 y or older | 193 (45.6) | 150 (33.9) | |
| Never used | 184 (43.5) | 202 (45.6) | |
| Having had sexual intercourseg | <.001* | ||
| <13 y | 14 (3.4) | 83 (19.3) | |
| 13 y or older | 253 (60.7) | 193 (44.8) | |
| Never had | 150 (36.0) | 155 (36.0) |
a
Numbers do not total 429 due to missing data.
b
Numbers do not total 461 due to missing data.
c
Chi-square test was used to examine the differences by gender.
d
4 females and 15 males did not answer the question on smoking.
e
4 females and 11 males did not answer this question.
f
6 females and 17 males did not answer this question.
g
12 females and 17 males did not answer this question.
*
P <.05 considered statistically significant.