Knowledge, attitude and behavioral determinants of tobacco use among 13-15 year old school children

Abstract

Background:The epidemic of tobacco use is one of the greatest threats to global health today. Tobacco attributable deaths in India currently range from 800,000 to 900,000 per year. Adolescents are among the most vulnerable group to start tobacco use. Information on tobacco use among the youth is necessary to establish control measures against it.Objectives:To assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavioral determinants of tobacco use among high school students (age13–15 years) in Bangalore.Materials and Method:A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 3 weeks in the month of September 2012. A structured, pretested questionnaire was administered randomly to 500 high school students in Bangalore to assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavioral determinants of tobacco use.Results:Majority of the study population [94.4% (472/500)] believed that smoking is definitely harmful to our health. Also, 39.0% of the participants of age 13 years believed that smoking does not help in socializing and 92.2% of study subjects had negative attitude toward starting the habit. Most of them (83.9%) had a negative perception about smokers that they lack confidence. However, less than 1% of the study population had a habit of smoking at this young age.Conclusion:Awareness of the harmful effects of smoking was high among the study population. The study provides insight into the factors to consider while planning adolescent anti-smoking programs in this and similar settings.

Awareness about harmful effects of cigarette smoking among adolescents in Shamirpet mandal, Hyderabad

“…A study by Raina has found out that about 46.4% of the study subjects thought that smoking does not help in gaining or losing weight. 16 In the present study father was a smoker in 35.7% cases, and TV was best source of information on smoking as viewed by 58.7%. In rural 91.23% see actors smoking in movies and 99.42% in urban areas see actors smoking in movies.…”

“…15 Majority of the study population [94.4% (472/500)] believed that smoking is definitely harmful to health. 16 Knowledge of and attitude regarding the bad effects of smoking was generally satisfactory in both groups regarding, its consequences on health. 15 Smoking has many adverse effects especially in terms of non-communicable diseases.…”

“…Their minds are very much influenced by the peer pressure, the affect being greater than the influence from members of the house. According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) among minors (15)(16)(17), 9.6% consumed tobacco in some form and most of them were able to purchase tobacco products. 11 In Andhra Pradesh prevalence of tobacco smokers among 13-15 years adolescents was 3.5 and 1.4 in males and females respectively and smokeless tobacco was 8.4 and 5.2 in males and females respectively.…”

Smoking Pattern in Students of a Selected Medical College in Bangladesh

“…Memon et al 23 found that 47% of smokers wanted to stop smoking. Raina et al 24 revealed in a study that 53.3% cigarette users expressed the desire to stop smoking. All these studies indicate that there is a positive attitude towards quitting.…”

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

“…Similar results were seen in other studies in India. 15 However the same in GYTS Delhi was less than 26%. 6 Few other studies also reported low levels of knowledge in their study population.…”