Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram Top Tobacco Consumption List Among School-Going Children

GUWAHATI: The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GTYS), 2019 has revealed that Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are the highest tobacco-consuming states (57.9 percent) in the case of school-going children.

Three other states of the Northeast feature in the list - Nagaland (42.6 percent), Meghalaya (33.6 percent), and Sikkim (24.8 percent).

The major findings of the survey, released by the ministry of health and family welfare recently, say 58 percent of the students (79 percent of boys and 38 percent of girls) use tobacco in various forms in Arunachal, while 54 percent of the students (76 percent of boys and 32 percent of girls) prefer smoking.

46 percent of the students smoke cigarettes and bidis, while 41 percent of the students (58 percent of boys and 24 percent of girls) use smokeless tobacco these days. 35 percent of the students tried quitting smoking in the past 12 months, while 24 percent of the current smokers wanted to get rid of the habit. 31 percent of the students got access to tobacco smoking at home, 68 percent were exposed to tobacco smoking inside enclosed public places, the survey said.

As per the survey, the general places of smoking are -- at home (8.4 percent), at school (11.3 percent) at friends houses (11.9 percent), at social events (8.9 percent), in public places (5.2 percent), and others (54.3 percent). 94 percent of the cigarette smokers and 88 percent of the current bidi smokers purchased cigarettes and bidis from stores, pan shops, street vendors, or vending machines.

It further said 36 percent of the school heads were not aware of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, and the policy to display 'tobacco-free school' board.

Seventy percent of the students, who were surveyed, said they came across anti-tobacco messages in mass media, while 19 percent of students saw tobacco advertisements or promotions in other ways.

It has also come to the fore that 68 percent of the students were in support of a ban on smoking inside enclosed public places, while 47 percent thought other people's cigarette smoking is detrimental to them.

In Arunachal, the GYTS-4 was carried out in 2019 as part of a national survey by the International Institute for Population Science under the ministry of health and family welfare. The total response rate was 82.5 percent.

Also Read: Akhil Gogoi Announces Protest Against Assam's new Cattle Preservation Act

Also Watch: