Global Youth Tobacco Survey finds home perfect hideout for UP students to smoke

13.5% of the respondents said they smoke at school, 10.8% at public places and 8.9% at social events while 9.7% students smoke at other random places

At 24%, a higher proportion of girl students, compared to 22% boys, were using tobacco in one form or another and it was also true for cigarette smoking students, comprising 2.7% girls and 1.9% boys, the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4 (GYTS-4) report released on Monday states.

GYTS-4 was conducted in 2019 and 3,501 students from 37 different schools, including 12 public and 25 private, participated in the survey. (Courtesy- GYTS report)

“In all, 21% of students including 20% boys and 23% girls currently smoke, while 2.3% students including 1.9% boys and 2.7% girls smoke cigarettes. Also roughly 12% students including 12% boys and 13% girls use smokeless tobacco,” the GYTS-4 report said.

The report also said that within the smokers’ group, home was the most preferred place to smoke for 37.4% students, followed by a friend’s house for 19.8% respondents who accepted they smoked.

“13.5% of the respondents said they smoke at school, 10.8% at public places and 8.9% at social events while 9.7% students smoke at other random places,” said the factsheet from the report.

GYTS-4 was conducted in 2019 and 3,501 students from 37 different schools, including 12 public and 25 private, participated in the survey.

GYTS is a cross-sectional nationally representative, school-based survey of students in grades associated with ages 13 to 15 years, said Satish Tripathi of the State Tobacco Control Cell. It uses global standardised methodology with a probability proportional to enrolment size.

The classes within the selected school are selected randomly. The survey questionnaire includes tobacco use, cessation, second-hand smoke and other aspects of tobacco usage.

“Tobacco addiction starts with peer pressure and students consume it for fun at the beginning, hiding their activity (smoking) from others. In later stages of life, these students become bold enough to smoke in front of others, hence, this habit has to be curbed even before the start,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general, Association of International Doctors.

GYTS assists countries in fulfilling their obligations under the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to generate comparable data within and across countries. GYTS-4 was conducted in 2019 as part of the national survey by the International Institute for Population Sciences, said Tripathi.