Year : 2015

Volume : Volume 5

Issue : Issue 3s

Address for correspondence :
Dr. Nirav Patel
drniravmaxfac@gmail.com

Abstract

Background:  In South Asia, the use of smokeless tobacco is common. India has the second highest tobacco production only next to China. Smoking and tobacco use is a major public health issue in developing countries. Tobacco use has been recognized as a major killer and behavioural interventions are being implemented for changing habits especially among the adolescents. The developing countries are unlikely to be lagging far behind in the magnitude of the problem and should act now, to prevent future catastrophe. In developing countries, the habit usually starts in the pre adolescent in both boys and girls and stabilizes to adult levels by the late teens. We will be performing a study to determine the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among school going children. Students will be selected from the schools located in Gandhinagar city of the age group 8-17 years after the institutional ethical committee approval.  Data will be tabulated and the results thus obtained would be statistically evaluated for the prevalence separately for males and females. Inter-group differences would be analyzed for probable significance using appropriate test.

Keywords: Smokeless tobacco, Children, Gandhinagar.