Prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among adolescents in the schools of Kalaiya, Nepal: a cross-sectional questionnaire based study

BACKGROUND: Adolescent students are vulnerable group for tobacco addiction. Tobacco use among school children is becoming a serious problem in developing countries. This study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use and to determine associated factors among adolescent students of Kalaiya municipality. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was carried out by self-administered questionnaire adapted from Global Youth Tobacco Survey to assess tobacco use among the representative sample of 1540 adolescent students selected by stratified random sampling from December 2014 to May 2015. RESULT: Overall prevalence of ‘ever users’ of tobacco products was 25.3 %. Prevalence among boys and girls was 31 and 14.4 % respectively. Mean age at initiation of using tobacco was 13.38 ± 1.62 years. The correlates of tobacco use were: sex, ethnicity, family members and friends using tobacco products, and students exposed at home and public place. CONCLUSION: School based interventions and tobacco education are necessary to prevent initiation and cessation of tobacco use. Legislations related to tobacco control should be enforced to decrease availability, accessibility and affordability of tobacco products. Social norms of tobacco use among parents and others at home as well as at public place should be modified to curb the tobacco use among school students.