Teens are less likely to smoke if they live at homes where a non-smoking ban is enforced, according to a new study.

This indicates that parental behavior remains strong influence on kids' attitudes, said the study by researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health.

By following more than 2,200 children, ages 12 to 17, for four years, the researchers also found that teens living in households that allowed smoking were more likely to find smoking as socially acceptable.

Teens whose parents allowed smoking at home also tended to think a higher percentage of local adults smoked, compared to teens with household bans, according to the study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"This basic intervention -- implementing a household smoking ban -- has the potential to promote antismoking norms and to prevent adolescent smoking," said lead study author Alison Albers, an assistant professor.

Forbidding smoking at home appeared to reduce the incidence of smoking experimentation, although this only occurred in children who lived with nonsmokers, said the study.

The teens who lived with nonsmokers but did not have a household smoking ban were nearly twice as likely to try cigarettes, compared to those whose parents banned smoking, the study said.

"This study provides evidence that even in a smoke-free home environment, parental behavior remains a strong influence on teen smoking attitudes and behavior," said Mary Hrywna, manager of the Center for Tobacco Surveillance and Evaluation Research at the University of Medicine and Dentistry and New Jersey School of Public Health in New Brunswick.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2008)