Over 50 per cent of pre-university students use tobacco products

The findings of a study, conducted by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bangalore, this year, shows that over 50 per cent of pre-university (PU) students pursuing courses in arts and humanities are smokers. The rules and advertisements to discourage the use of tobacco products by the youth have had no impact on students in Bangalore. The study revealed that 58.9 per cent of students of arts and humanities, followed by 30.6 per cent and 10.6 per cent students of science and commerce streams, respectively, use tobacco products. The study was conducted in two stages in Bangalore’s 19 PU colleges on 1,087 students of first year PU (53 per cent) and second year PU (47 per cent). At least 18 colleges had one or more tobacco selling points within 100 yards of their campus. The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2005 prohibits sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of any educational institution. As much as 55.8 per cent of students said that peer pressure had influenced them to use tobacco products. More than 30 per cent said their teachers were smokers, while 31.74 per cent said that at least one parent used tobacco products. As much as 18 per cent felt the need to smoke or consume tobacco when they saw film stars smoking or chewing gutka in films, IPH’s Upendra Bhojani, who conducted the study under the guidance of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, told The Hindu. During focus group discussions, 50 per cent to 60 per cent of boys and 20 per cent to 40 per cent of girls reported use of tobacco. Dr. Bhojani said the average age of the students when they started tobacco consumption was 15. Among tobacco consumption, smoking was the most common form (90.12 per cent) followed by chewing tobacco (32.1 per cent) and tobacco application (28.4 per cent). As much as 13.58 per cent of students consume all three kinds of tobacco, and the average consumption of cigarettes was three a day, it said. Interestingly, 51 per cent of students who smoke and consume gukta also consume alcohol, while barely six per cent non-tobacco users consume alcohol.

"Loved reading this piece by M. PIRAVI PERUMAL?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group