Knowledge Regarding Health Hazards and Practice of Tobacco Consumption among Students of Selected Schools of Indore

Abstract

Today tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. It is the only legal consumer product that kills one third to one half of those who used it as intended by its manufacturers, with its victims dying on an average 15 years prematurely. Having survived the vulnerable childhood period, these young people are generally healthy. However, as the tobacco school students intensifies its efforts to hook new, young and potentially lifelong tobacco users, the health of a significant percentage of the world’s youth is seriously threatened by the deadly products. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and child and adolescent experimentation can easily lead to a life time of tobacco dependence. In India tobacco was first brought by Portuguese merchants 400 years ago. Although there were already some strains of locally-grown tobacco in India these were outclassed by the new imported varieties from Brazil. The trade boomed and tobacco quickly established itself as the most important commodity passing through Goa in the 17th century. an exploratory study to assess the knowledge regarding health hazards and practice of tobacco consumption among school students. The study was conducted among 100 school students selected school of Indore Samples were selected through purposive sampling technique and convenient sampling technique was used to include students as the samples of the study.