Hyderabad: The girls have left the boys behind in cigarette smoking globally. The smoking and the use of tobacco and other intoxicants starts in school days. First, they try to imitate their colleagues and soon they are hooked on the habit.
The results of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 report released on Monday are
worrisome. The percentage of boys using tobacco is 22% while the percentage of girls is 24%. This indicates that 2% more girls are using tobacco products. The percentage in cigarette smoking, the girls form 2.7% and the boys 1.9%.
The survey also said that within the smokers’ group, the home was the most preferred place to smoke for 37.4% of students, followed by a friend’s house for 19.8% of respondents who accepted they smoked.
According to the survey, 13.5% of the respondents said they smoke at school, 10.8% at public places, and 8.9% at social events while 9.7% of students smoke at other places.
The survey includes 1000 schools, 550 government and 450 private schools totaling 80000 students between the age of 13 to 15 years.
The survey found out that in 2003, 16.9% of students were smoking and using tobacco and other toxicants. This percentage has been reduced to 28.5 percent in 2019. In India, about 9.6 % of boys and 7.4 % of girls are using tobacco products. Telangana with a percentage of 5.2% occupies 17th place nationally.