| Summary: | Background
Age
of tobacco initiation is an important determinant leading to future tobacco
dependence. The present study attempted to summarize the age of initiation of
tobacco among users and its importance in formulating tobacco control measures.
Methods
A
cross-sectional study was conducted among 1360 respondents visiting 22 primary
care facilities in two high tobacco burden states of India in 2016. The health
facilities and patients were chosen using systematic random sampling. We
summarized the age of initiation of the tobacco users and its implications to
health. We considered the variable "number
of visits to physicians in the last 12 months" as a proxy for the health
condition of the respondents.
Results
The
average age of initiation of the respondents was 19 years. More than 65%
respondents reported to have started using some form of tobacco (smoking and/or
smokeless) between the ages of 16 to 25 years. Majority of these respondents reported
to have visited a physician at least 3 to 5 times in past 12 months. Further
the findings showed a decreasing trend in tobacco initiation after 25 years.
Conclusions
The
study suggests that initiation of tobacco products uptake starts around the age
of 16 years and has adverse health implications. Hence, the efforts to prevent
initiation of tobacco should not only focus on adults, but also on older youth
and young adults. So far the tobacco programs and interventions in India have
focused on the adults who are already users. We also need to intervene before
tobacco use is taken up as a habit, stressing on not only preventive but also
primordial care. Consistent and inescapable interventions should be devised to
cater this group to reduce the uptake of tobacco.
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