Are Indian Children Addicted To Tobacco?

Interestingly the study reached the conclusion that education is one of the most effective ways to prevent tobacco addiction in children.

The study revealed that only 4.1 percent students were likely to smoke as compared to the 8.7 percent from the students not exposed to the program. After two years of program only 3.4 percent students were likely to use tobacco. The most promising fact is that the students under the program took initiative to save others from the usage of tobacco.

Harvard professor Glorian Sorensen who wrote the report pointed that these findings underscore how important tobacco awareness programs are to prevent addiction, especially among children of low-income families.

Indian government has been initiating the steps to fight against tobacco consumption. There is a National Tobacco Control Program set up by the Indian government in order to help people come out from their addiction. The World Health Organization figures that India has spent over $ 5 million for the program in 2010.

Then how does the government fail even when the smoking at public places is illegal? Devika Chadha, Program Director of the Salaam Bombay Foundation said, “The problem is that laws are not implemented.”

“Five thousand five hundred children try tobacco single day,” Devika Chadha added.

As per the statistics of 2010, the use of Tobacco is very high and increasing in India. India is ranked at second in the number of consumers in the world. India is also the third largest producers of Tobacco.

“Whatever we are doing is not enough,” Prakash Gupta, co-author of the report and director of Healis – Sekhsharia Institute of Public Health said,  reported WSJ .

Though any recent data is not available, 2006 Global Youth Tobacco Survey shows that tobacco consumption among children is alarmingly high. The survey figured more than 13 percent of students between the age of 13 and 15 in India use tobacco in some form.