Abstract
At current era of globalization, media is the double edged sword that is important both for health education as well as the stimulation of unhealthy behaviour. In Nepal, though there is ban on most forms of advertising, it is not clear about placement of tobacco advertisement in TV, films and other forms of media. Studies about cigarette smoking and its association with media are inadequate in Nepal. The objective of this study was to explore the role of media in cigarette smoking habit of adolescents in Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 394 adolescent students by using questionnaire method in 3 randomly selected colleges of Kathmandu district, Nepal. Data were analysed by using bivariate and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Statistically significant relationship at 95% CI was found between cigarette smoking status and media related variables like: seeing cigarette advertisement, reading fashion magazine, attending musical program sponsored by cigarette companies, watching movies in cinema hall, liking heavy metal/hard rock music, television watching time and desire to smoke if favourite artist smokes. Multinomial logistic regression showed that those with high receptivity to cigarette advertisement were likely to be current smokers (OR = 71.416, CI: 8.796 - 579.823) and ever smokers (OR = 9.582, CI: 2.201 - 41.714) compared to never smokers. About 79% of respondents agreed that media teaches different ways of smoking to its audiences. Different forms of media including cinema, music, magazines, television, games and music sponsorship are found to be important predictors for smoking status of college students in urban Nepal. Thus smoking prevention activities should consider role of media in smoking provocation among adolescents.
Highlights
According to WHO, tobacco is the single largest preventable risk factor for various diseases including premature deaths and disability around the world
In Nepal, tobacco use is more common among men (52%) than women (13%)
Many students from different parts of Nepal, after having passed School Leaving Certificate (SLC) level prefer going to Kathmandu, the capital city for 10 + 2 level studies
Summary
According to WHO, tobacco is the single largest preventable risk factor for various diseases including premature deaths and disability around the world. It kills nearly six million people each year of which more than five million are users and ex-users and more than 600,000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke [1]. In Nepal, tobacco use is more common among men (52%) than women (13%). Of the men using tobacco, 30% smoke cigarette while 38% consumed other forms of tobacco. 9 percent smoke cigarette and 6 percent consumed other forms of tobacco [3]. Prevalence of smoking among adult females in Nepal is one of the highest in the WHO South-East Asia Region [4]
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