Tobacco use and its determinants among 13-15 year old adolescents of two central government schools of New Delhi district

Authors

  • Ashwini Kedar Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi
  • Sanjay Gupta Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi
  • Khangembam Jitenkumar Singh National Institute of Health Statistics, ICMR, New Delhi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20172148

Keywords:

Tobacco, Adolescence, Non-communicable diseases, School

Abstract

Background: The burden of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is on the rise globally as well as in India. Tobacco use is one of the important behavioural risk factors which can be recognized and modified at a young age. Objectives: To assess tobacco use among school going adolescents and to determine the factors affecting this NCD risk factor.

Methods: The study was conducted among adolescents aged 13 years to 15 years studying in class eighth to tenth from two central government schools of New Delhi district. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from students and their parents. Data gathered from 438 students was analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results: 30 participants were found to ever use tobacco, and 25 were current users. Majority (17) ever tobacco users started using tobacco at 11 years or less. Tobacco use among family members, friends was found to be an important predictor for, ever and current tobacco use. Film actors were an important source of inspiration for tobacco use followed by family members and friends. Health education at school had a strong protective effect especially for current tobacco use.

Conclusions: A decreasing age of initiation for tobacco use and a strong influence of family members were found. Greater emphasis on health education activities at school may help to decrease tobacco use among children. School based interventions involving families of students may help in controlling this behavioural risk factor. 

Author Biography

Sanjay Gupta, Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi

PROFESSOR AND DEAN ,nihfw

References

Global status report on Non communicable diseases 2010.

Lin HH, Ezzati M, Murray M. Tobacco Smoke, Indoor Air Pollution and Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS Med. 2007;4(1):e20.

WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2013.

The WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS) World Health Organization 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.

Kumar N, Gupta N, Kishore J. Kuppuswamy’s Socioeconomic Scale: Updating Income Ranges for the Year 2012. Indian J Public Health. 2012;56(1):103-4.

Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) – Delhi. Indian Pediatrics. 2005;42(17):850-1.

Sogarwal R, Bachani D, Kumar B, Gupta S. Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases among Higher Secondary School Students in Selected Districts of India. Am J Public Health Res. 2014;2(1):16-20.

Soni P, Raut DK. Tobacco Use among School Students in National Capital Territory of Delhi. J Alcoholism Drug Depend. 2013;1:120.

Sharma R, Grover VL, Chaturvedi S. Tobacco Use Among Adolescent Students and the Influence of Role Models. Indian J Community Med. 2010;35(2):272–5.

Narain R, Sardana S, Gupta S, Sehgal A. Age at initiation & prevalence of tobacco use among school children in Noida, India: A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey. Indian J Med Res. 2011,133:300-7.

Hedmana L, Bjerg-Ba¨cklunda A, Perzanowskic M, Sundberga S, Ro¨nmarka E. Factors related to tobacco use among teenagers. Respiratory Med. 2007;101:496–502.

Spyratos DG, Pelagidou DT, Chloros D, Haidich A, Karetsi E, Koubaniou C, et al. Smoking among adolescents in Northern Greece: a large cross-sectional study about risk and preventive factors Substance Abuse Treatment. Prevent Policy. 2012;7:38.

Shamsuddin K, Haris MA. Family Influence on Current Smoking Habits Among Secondary School Children in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Singapore Med J. 2000;41(4):167-71.

Distefan JM, Gilpin EA, Sargent JD, Pierce JP. Do movie stars encourage adolescents to start smoking? Evidence from California. Prev Med. 1999;28:1–11.

Raina R, Krishna M, Murali R, Shamala A, Yalamalli M, Kumar AV. Knowledge, attitude and behavioral determinants of tobacco use among 13-15year old school children. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent. 2015;5(4):321–6.

Tobacco use among students and teachers. Findings from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and Global School Personnel Survey (GSPS), India. 2003-2009. MOHFW, GOI.

Singh S, Gururaj G. Health behaviours and problems among young people in India: Cause for concern & call for action. Indian J Med Res. 2014;140:185-208.

Downloads

Published

2017-05-22

How to Cite

Kedar, A., Gupta, S., & Singh, K. J. (2017). Tobacco use and its determinants among 13-15 year old adolescents of two central government schools of New Delhi district. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 4(6), 1912–1917. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20172148

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles