Background:
Non-compliance with smoking bans in Greece leave children exposed to secondhand smoke. The current study summarized teachers’ smoking prevalence, compliance and attitudes towards smoking bans.

Methods:
A multi-stage sampling design collected data from teachers in Attica, Greece. A secondary source of national data to represent a matching sample of the general population (GP) was used for comparison. Teacher responses were compared by smoking status using logistic regression. To compare teachers and the GP, a binomial proportion test was used and a χ² and Fishers test between modalities, with p set to <0.05 for all results.

Results:
647 educators and 1,678 respondents for the GP ages 25- 67 years old residing in Attica, were included. Smoking prevalence among teachers was 26.4%, which was significantly lower than the GP prevalence at 39.7% (p<0.001). Daily smoking prevalence was significantly lower among teachers (p<0.001) compared to the GP. 25.8% of teachers reported complete compliance with smoke-free policies at their school. Teachers who smoked were less likely to report recently teaching their class about smoking (p=0.006) than nonsmokers. A majority of teachers agreed and would volunteer with educational programs aimed at reducing smoking among their students.

Conclusions:
Prevalence of smoking among teachers in Attica was significantly lower than in the general population and their attitudes were proactive towards implementation of smoking bans in public places in Greece. Compliance with the smoking ban on school grounds could be improved by training teachers on the school policy and protocol regarding smoking on school grounds.