SMOKING: Keep a watch on your young adults
Smoking is one of the largest public health problem due to its affects on human body and its association with a variety of chronic and other dangerous diseases as well as adverse affect on reproductive health of both male and female. Most smokers start smoking in their youth when growth has not been yet completed and they are more susceptible to the harmful components of tobacco and responsible for more than six million deaths annually worldwide with leading causes of death as cancer with lung cancer being the most common. In Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in Kashmir valley, around 83% of smokers begin smoking before the age of 18 in the age group of 13-15 years with a good ratio of school going boys & girls.
Smoking in childhood and adolescence leads to short and long-term health problems, besides smoking among young has been shown to increase the risk for both on counter drugs and street drugs showing increasing trend in the recent past, as well as the risk to be engaged in fighting and other risky behaviors which are now-a-days is very much visible in the areas Srinagar city around colleges, schools and coaching centers.
The number of children and adolescents those initiate smoking annually making the existing smoking epidemic figures worse in Kashmir valley. According to the Global Tobacco Survey 2016-17,One in five, or 20.8%, of J&K’s people smoke, against the national average of 10.7%. Jammu & Kashmir ranks the sixth highest among Indian states by smoking habits, behind Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram in ascending order.
The reason why an adolescent begins smoking varies and differs by gender and educational level. The exact age of beginning smoking also varies and is not the same in all population groups. The risk of smoking initiation can be higher due to family and social causes in order to participate more easily in social groups; due to boredom or stress during their stay in college; also, due to social beliefs that promote smoking as evident in the gatherings of faith healers and Peers (Babas) in the rural as well as urban areas of Kashmir valley. At the same instance for students whose parents smoke is easier to start smoking. If an adolescent’s parent smokes, the adolescent himself also may become a smoker. But, however, if an adolescent’s parent has in the past quit smoking, himself won’t start smoking so easily. In our society, the adolescents who knew that both their parents would be opposed to smoking would not initiate smoking; also, parents themselves with their acts can prevent their children from initiating smoking.
Teenagers that face problems in their social or family life are more likely to initiate smoking. There is a true connection between anxiety, depression and smoking. People suffering from anxiety and depression have many possibilities of smoking initiation after suffering some stressful events. Moreover, smokers with depression and anxiety can easily become addicted to smoking or other substance abuse. Smoker school & college students have shown much more depressing symptoms than non-smokers. In addition, adolescents who show depression signs and are regular or non-regular smokers have a higher chance of addiction in nicotine. Smoking in adolescents can negatively impact reproductive health in both males and females.
As in females, it can lead to irregular menstrual cycles, decreased fertility (most prevalent now a days) with increasing post marriage conflicts, and increased risk of complications during pregnancy, including ectopic pregnancy, premature birth, and low birth weight babies. For males, smoking can reduce sperm quality and quantity, affecting fertility, and potentially leading to erectile dysfunction. It is reported that exposure to cigarette smoke in early fetal developmental can result in certain epigenetic changes in the lungs of the offspring. These can then be transferred to following generations, resulting in adult onset of respiratory disease. There is some evidence of an association between maternal smoking, early childhood exposure to SHS, and the development of emphysema in adulthood. The preceding findings suggest that the lungs may not recover completely from the effects of early life exposure, even when the offspring continues to be nonsmoker in adult life.
In the current scenario, internet influencing young people to initiate smoking has not been studied much. The influence of internet on smoking initiation is mostly seen through internet advertisements, e-mails and special web sites. These children and adolescents can find cheap markets that sell cigarettes online. School or college is a place where a great number of young smokers exist on date. For this reason, school is an ideal place where smoking prevention and cessation programs could be practiced; children can be informed about the harmful habit of smoking in order to prevent them from initiating and proper smoking cessation protocols could be promoted. In our modern era, when use of tobacco products and Drugs are increasing, when the risks to the adolescent brain are becoming increasingly apparent, every parent should become familiar with these six steps:
- Learn the major risk factors for tobacco/ drug use among children.
- Learn about smoking/drug use consequences and make clear statements that you disapprove of drug use.
- Be involved in your child’s life.
- Know your child’s friends.
- Minimize child’s stress at home.
- Learn the signs of a child’s smoking/drug use and how to respond.
Role of parents, particularly mother, is more important and can act as game changer in the current scenario; every mother shall use her nose. Have a real, face-to-face conversation when child comes home after hanging out with friends. If there has been drinking or smoking, the smell will be on their breath, on clothing and in their hair.
As a regulatory part, at government level, to check smoking in public places and around educational institutions, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA)-2003, makes it mandatory for all the tobacco products to depict pictorial health warnings on the tobacco product packs stating that smoking causes cancer and is injurious to health. These pictorial warnings have to be effective so as to repel the user and should occupy 50% of the display area and should be clearly visible. COTPA also prohibits smoking in public places and prohibits direct and indirect advertisement. It also prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors, below18 years, and within 100 yards of educational institutions.
Government has authorized many authorities for the implementation of the Cigarettes & Other Tobacco Products Act, such as sarpanch, panchayat secretary, teacher, principal, headmaster and many others to compound offences of smoking in their respective jurisdictions.
Khurshida Akhtar tutor, MMINSR, SKIMS Soura
