Introduction:
Studies on smoking prevalence of Greek adolescents are sparse and ambiguous. We aimed to investigate prevalence and predictors of cigarette smoking for adolescents in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki.

Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1.802 randomly selected Greek students. Multistage sampling with quotas was used with regard to the geographical distribution of the target population, gender and grade. Data were collected by a self-completed questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to evaluate the association between selected variables and the likelihood of being a current smoker.

Results:
Cigarette smoking was reported by 18.2% (95% CI=16.4 - 20.0); 8.1% (95% CI=6.2 – 10.0) of Gymnasium and 26.1% (95% CI=23.4 – 28.8) of Lyceum students reported being smokers. An estimated 38.0% (95% CI=35.8 - 40.2) had ever tried cigarette, 27.1% (95% CI=25.1 - 29.2) hookah and 17.7% (95% CI=15.9 - 19.5) electronic cigarette. Older age (OR= 11.59; 95% CI [6.25, 21.50], parental (OR=1.71; 95% CI [1.19, 2.46]), siblings’ (OR=2.07; 95% CI [1.43, 2.99] and teachers’ smoking OR=1.97; 95%CI [1.23, 3.17])and exposure to smoking through the entertainment media (OR= 1.48; 95% CI[1.03,2.14] and the tobacco promotion activities (OR=3.73;95% CI[2.88,4.83] predicted current smoking.

Conclusions:
Greek adolescents report lower smoking rates than previously reported, yet it is a population experimenting with tobacco products. Electronic cigarette emerged as the third most likely product of experimentation. The social origin of smoking behavior is confirmed, as well as the imperative need to encourage tobacco-free school policies and bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.