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Indian Pediatr 2011;48: 77-78 |
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Tobacco and Non-Tobacco Abuse Among School
Children in Noida, India |
Sarita Sardana and Raj Narain
Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Institute of
Cytology & Preventive Oncology (Indian Council of Medical research), I-7,
Sector-39, Near Degree College, Noida,
Uttar Pradesh, India.
Email: [email protected]
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Addiction to tobacco and harmful non-tobacco products by youth is assuming
alarming proportion in our country [1-3]. A cross-sectional study was
undertaken to determine the prevalence and age at initiation of tobacco
and non-tobacco use among school children. Data were collected from
students of class 7 to 12 (ages: 11-18 years) in the year 2005, through
cluster and random sampling using a self- administered anonymous pretested
questionnaire. The study was approved by institutional ethical and review
committee. An informed consent from the students as well as student’s
parents and school authorities was obtained. The sample size calculated
was 5600, assuming the prevalence of tobacco use as 6.0%, a relative
precision of 10% and confidence interval of 95%. The habits were
classified as ‘Exclusive use of tobacco’, ‘Exclusive use of non-tobacco’
(the use of only tobacco or only non-tobacco, even once, in any form
during life time, including current use) or
‘Both habits’ (the use of tobacco and non-tobacco
even once in any form). Tobacco use included smoking of cigarettes,
Beedis, Hookah, Chillum, Ganja etc. and chewing of Gutka, Khaini
and Zarda. Non-tobacco comprised of betel quid and pan masala.
Differences in proportions and mean age of initiation were tested using
Pearson’s Chi-Square test and Students t-test respectively.
A total of 4786/5600 (85.0%) students responded.
‘Exclusive tobacco use’ ‘Exclusive non-tobacco chewing’ and ‘Both habits’
were found in 7.4%, 8.9% and 4.4% students. There was no significant
gender difference in the prevalence of ‘exclusive tobacco use’ and
‘exclusive non-tobacco use’. Interestingly, girls were found to initiate
both the habits significantly earlier than boys. (tobacco: girls 12.1
years vs. boys 12.6 years; non-tobacco: girls 11.4 years vs. boys 12.0
years (Table-I). The mean age of initiating the non-tobacco
habit (11.7 years) was significantly lower than the mean age of initiating
tobacco habit (12.3 years) irrespective of the gender. While boys adopted
these habits usually to refresh themselves or to look smart, girls more
often took to these habits to make friends. More than 70% of tobacco users
who visited the street vendor were not refused tobacco products despite
the ban by the Government.
Table I
Prevalence and Mean Age of Initiation of Tobacco and Non-tobacco Habits Among Boys and Girls
Habits |
Prevalence |
P |
Mean age of initiation (years) |
P |
|
Boys |
Girls |
Total |
value |
Boys |
Girls |
Total |
value |
|
N=2360 (%) |
N=2426 (%) |
N=4786 (%) |
|
N=2360 |
N=2426 |
N=4786 |
|
Exclusive tobacco Users |
183 (7.8) |
173 (7.1) |
356 (7.4) |
0.41 |
12.6 ± 2.0 |
12.1 ± 1.6 |
12.3 ± 1.8 |
0.02 |
(smoking or chewing) |
|
|
|
|
(150/183) |
(147/173) |
(297/356) |
|
Exclusive non- |
195 (8.3) |
194 (8.0) |
389 (8.1) |
0.74 |
12.0 ± 1.6 |
11.4 ± 1.7 |
11.7 ± 1.7 |
0.001 |
tobacco users |
|
|
|
|
(175/195) |
(182/194) |
(357/389) |
|
Both habits (tobacco |
125 (5.3) |
85 (3.5) |
210 (4.4) |
0.002 |
12.5 ± 1.8 |
12.7 ± 2.0 |
12.6 ± 1.9 |
0.45 |
and non-tobacco) |
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|
|
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(124/125) |
(85/85) |
(209/210) |
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Note: * Significant
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The study highlights rising prevalence of non-tobacco
habit in addition to tobacco addiction among girl students and early
uptake of these habits. Health awareness, psycho-behavioral change and
education programs, strict enforcement of laws to ban sale of these
products to the under-aged are urgently needed to curb these habits before
they assume epidemic proportions [4,5].
Acknowledgment: Dr Sanjay Gupta and Dr Ashok Sehgal for
their valuable support in preparation of the manuscript.
References
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Differences in prevalence of tobacco use among Indian urban youth: The
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Pattern of tobacco use among school children in National Capital Territory
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