Tribal adolescents in Odisha introduced to smokeless tobacco without family control, study finds

Tribal adolescents in Odisha, dwelling to India’s most numerous tribal communities, with the State’s 64 tribes together with 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), are initiated into the consumption of smokeless tobacco as early as 12 to 16 years of age due to lack of family management, and peer stress, a study by the regional chapter of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has discovered.

The study, titled ‘A qualitative study on tobacco-use associated behaviour and major influencing factors among youths from indigenous communities of Odisha, India’, carried out by the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, an ICMR institute, and Utkal University, says the prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption is 61% amongst males, and 35% amongst girls.

The study of 210 respondents from the Santhal and Bhumij tribal communities says tobacco consumption habits are influenced by numerous socio-demographic determinants involving particular person and community-level traits, together with ethnicity, gender, age, training, and occupation, in addition to the socio-cultural surroundings.

Tobacco control laws are out of step with smokeless tobacco

“We have found several factors causing the initiation of tobacco consumption. Teenagers (between the ages of 12 years to 16 years) are observed as the primary age for initiation of tobacco consumption. However, the family situation and peer group have exclusive roles to play in the initiation of the tobacco habit among adolescents and youths,” Subhendu Kumar Acharya, senior scientist on the RMRC, mentioned.

“Early experiences due to the lack of family control were observed, leading to early habituation to tobacco. Peer pressure was also observed as the other major and crucial factor in this process, which happened through the influence of close friends and older people in the peer group,” Mr. Acharya mentioned.

Adolescents turn into acquainted with tobacco at cultural areas, together with native video games and festivals. Learning from elders, they discover tobacco consumption whereas in college or school, the study discovered.

“While we briefly explored institutional facilities, it was found that there are only 13 tobacco de-addiction centres in the whole of Odisha, and they are highly limited in their presence and functionality,” the RMRC scientist mentioned, including that the cessation of tobacco consumption is crucial to scale back its related mortality and morbidity.

“Further, lack of knowledge on the adverse health effects of tobacco use, along with this scarcity of healthcare infrastructure, are the other major factors. It needs further detailed investigation regarding the health system and associated tobacco control practices, followed by necessary intervention strategy,” Mr. Acharya mentioned.

In an earlier RMRC study, the evaluation of information on the distribution of adults utilizing any type of tobacco in India confirmed Odisha as the biggest shopper of any type of tobacco amongst each men and women in the key States in India, excluding the northeastern States.

Analysis of National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 information mentioned that, as in opposition to 8.9% of nationwide prevalence of tobacco consumption amongst girls above the age group of 14 years, the prevalence amongst girls in Odisha is 26%.  In the case of males, the prevalence rose to 52% in contrast with the nationwide common of 38%.

The current study exhibits smokeless tobacco consumption among the many tribes of Odisha stands at 48.4% (male 61.5%, and feminine 35.5%).