Many factors seem to influence tobacco use among adolescents, but changes in cultural trends have been shown in the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. According to the survey, more than half of students aged 13 to 15 in India are smokers, and many smoke at home. Those who use tobacco outside the home are more likely to use it than their peers who don't use tobacco at home, according to a new study.
The government of Maharashtra launched a series of initiatives to reduce tobacco use last year, and many children and young people in the state are exposed to secondhand smoke. A study in India also found that students exposed to tobacco advertising on television were significantly more likely to be smokers. The government in Maharashtra is committed to reducing tobacco consumption - and the associated harm to its citizens.
Enforcement of the ban has the potential to discourage young people from smoking and encourage many current smokers to quit, thereby further reducing the health damage and premature deaths caused by tobacco use and exposure in SHS Maharashtra. Dr. Murphy's new book, "Eat Tobacco Alive Baby Alive," supports these initiatives and focuses specifically on those close and beloved smokers, including unborn children, to encourage them to quit. We should be able to send a strong message about the dangers of tobacco and its harmful effects on children and young people.
The haunting ads in Eat Tobacco Alive Baby Alive are an important step towards dispelling the misinformation from the tobacco industry and reminding people of the urgent need to quit smoking and to stop exposing others to passive smoking.
The effects of so much smoking are already drastic: tobacco use is the second leading cause of death among young people in Jordan and is associated with one in eight deaths in the country, compared to one in ten deaths worldwide. Tobacco consumption is estimated to cost Jordan's GDP three times as much as the global average, and is responsible for more than a third of all deaths from cancer and heart disease. It contributes significantly to the deaths of children and young people in India and other countries.
According to Hawari, the true scale of the problem will not be known until 2030, when most of a country's disproportionately young population reaches the age at which tobacco - related diseases such as cancer and heart disease - manifests itself.
Reducing tobacco and nicotine use is a key part of the government's strategy to help people live longer and healthier lives. Surveys show that tobacco use has increased in India, with women becoming accustomed to the habit mainly in the form of hookah pipes, which doctors say can consume about three packs of cigarettes in a 45-minute session. The introduction of e-cigarettes, marketed as a quitting aid, has resulted in more people overall consuming nicotine than quitting smoking.
Tobacco kills more than 900,000 people a year in India, and the World Health Organization estimates that tobacco disease costs the country $16 billion a year. India's vast youth demographic, based on the number of under-25s, poses a major threat to young people's health, even though cigarette sales have declined in many countries. It also means that it has become easier for young people to get cigarettes, making them more likely to try their first smoker.
When you're young, you just want to experiment with new things, "says Dr K.K. Srinivasan, a professor at Delhi University's School of Public Health.
In a survey by the Union Ministry of Health, 28.6% of adults in India have already used tobacco, and in a survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 37% of children in India have started smoking at least once in their lives. According to the WHO, tobacco is consumed in more than half of all tobacco households in India.
The youth and adult statistics together are important, but the Global Youth Tobacco Survey suggests that advising children and adolescents about the effects of tobacco smoking and emphasising tobacco education as part of the university curriculum is a significant step that needs to be taken at global level. In India, people between the ages of 18 and 9 are introduced to tobacco. The influence of the sexes before young people start smoking is an important factor, but tobacco education must be integrated at school level, where negative and positive opinions are formed. While these effects can be reversed when peers act as anti-tobacco champions at school, the same peer pressure can also be used as a protective factor.
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