Potential Risk Factors of Smokeless Tobacco Consumption Among Adolescents in South India.
Muralidhar M KulkarniVeena Ganesh KamathAsha KamathSarah LewisIlze BogdanovicaManpreet BainsJo CranwellAndrew FogartyMonika AroraGaurang P NazarKirthinath BallalAshwath K NaikRohith BhagawathJohn BrittonPublished in: Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (2022)
The prevalence of SLT use among school going adolescents in South India is relatively low. The potential risk factors for SLT use among adolescents in southern India are similar to those for smoked tobacco. It includes age, male gender, family or friend's use of SLT, low socioeconomic status, high rebelliousness, low self-esteem, exposure to tobacco advertisement and least awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco and of tobacco control policies. The present study lays emphasis regarding creating awareness about tobacco harms and control policies for further reducing tobacco use among adolescents.