The numbers don’t bode well for the young in India. A Global Youth Tobacco Survey has indicated a disturbing trend of a significant rise in the number of boys under the age of 10 years beginning to smoke bidi.
“Compared to 26 per cent in 2006, the percentage of students who started smoking bidi before the age of 10 in 2009 is 45.4 per cent. This is a disturbing trend. The earlier age of tobacco initiation may lead to higher chances of getting addicted and greater health risks,” said Sonali Jhanjee, Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatric, AIIMS.
This cross-sectional survey used a two-stage cluster sample design to get a representative sample of schools and students. According to the study, 12, 086 students in 2006 and 11, 768 in 2009 in the age range of 13-15 years were surveyed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners, including the AIIMS, observe May 31 as World No Tobacco Day to draw attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and negative health effects associated with it.
The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, which is a WHO Collaborating Centre, had organised a public lecture on “Quit Tobacco, Choose Health” on Saturday as part of its public lecture series. Information released by the AIIMS says that tobacco-related diseases are the single most important cause of preventable deaths in the world. Both active and passive smoking causes more than 20 major categories of fatal and disabling disease, including lung and other cancers. It is projected that tobacco use will cause 8.4 million deaths by 2020, 70 per cent of which will occur in developing countries.
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey, conducted in India in 2009-10, shows that prevalence of tobacco use is very high in the country and more than 35 per cent of adults use tobacco in some form. The prevalence of overall tobacco use among males is 48 per cent and 20 per cent among females, while the estimated number of tobacco users in India is a staggering 275 million.
Compared to 26% in 2006, the percentage of students who started smoking bidi before the age of 10 in 2009 is 45.4%
