DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i04.025

Pages: 1282-1285

Tobacco use is an important risk factor for numerous chronic diseases like cancer, diseases of the lungs, and cardiovascular diseases. Despite this, tobacco use is common throughout the world. Almost 150 million young people are known to use tobacco out of which a majority worldwide began this when they were adolescents. This number is on the increase globally, particularly amongst those individuals who move away from their homes to earn a living. This was a community based, cross-sectional descriptive study conducted amongst labourers in an urban area of north India. All the male labourers, who were present at the place of study during the period of study and consented to be part of it were included (N=356). The youngest one was 16 years of age while the oldest one was 54 years of age. Accordingly, the class intervals for the age groups were made. The respondents were interviewed with the help of an investigator administered questionnaire. This was a standardized questionnaire based on the Tobacco Use Module of the Global School based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2013 core questionnaire modules. Data was analysed using EpiInfo. Only 3.37 per cent (n=12) of the respondents had never smoked consumed tobacco in any other form. 35.39 per cent of the study population (n=126) had started smoking at the age of 14 or 15 years. 87.64 per cent (n=312) had their fathers or male guardians who smoked. An overwhelming majority of the respondents were influenced by their fathers and took up smoking at a relatively younger age, despite being aware of the harmful effects.