DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2019.v07i02.001

Pages: 54-62

Narghile smoking is progressively becoming prevalent and accepted behavior among youth in the middle east region. Even though the Narghile method of tobacco smoking is an old tradition among Middle Eastern adult males, its widespread emergence among adolescence is a new encounter. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, social acceptance, and perception of Narghile smoking among the youth in Erbil, the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan. A cross-sectional study where 630 youths in Erbil province completed a self-administered questionnaire based on the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The Results shows cigarette smokers (16.7%), as Narghile smoking accounted for 49.4%. The prevalence of current Narghile smoking among the study sample was almost twice (65.7%) as compared to (33.0%) cigarette smokers. Most participants (44.9%) smoked Narghile once per week. The majority(67.6%) started smoking Narghile after 18 years of age. More than half of participants (57.5%) agreed that Narghile is less harmful than cigarette smoking, 54.9% disagreed that Narghile smoking can transfer infectious disease and more than Half of participants stated that is not a risk factor for lung cancer and cardiovascular disorder. Moreover, 47.9% agreed that Narghile causes gum disease, 81.4% agreed that Narghile smoking reduces stress, and 46.3% believe that it may cause addiction. The study indicates that current Narghile smoking is exceedingly widespread, and its social acceptance is surpassing cigarette smoking among youth in Erbil province. Planning and implementing an awareness program are required by authorities to increase responsiveness among adolescence to thwart the spread of such tobacco smoking conduct.