Gunjal Sandeep S , Borle Amod L , Narlawar Uday W , Ughade Suresh N , Chaudhari Vijaya L , Humne Arun Y
Background: The problem of tobacco and alcohol consumption among the residential tribal school students of tribal area is an important one. The generation of exact data pertaining to various pockets will certainly be helpful for comparison to health planners and researchers. It is also important to find out exact perceptions of these children through qualitative analyses.
Objectives: (1) To find out the proportion of school students indulging in use of tobacco and alcohol in any form. (2) To find out the perception of these school students regarding the same.
Material and Methods: The study was conducted in selected residential tribal schools of Nagpur District in Central India from July-September 2009. Quantitative data was collected using pretested pro forma while for qualitative assessment 3 Focussed Group Discussions were carried out. Appropriate statistical methods were used for analysis of the data.
Results: In all 2.86% of school students were indulging in smoking while 41.74% were using tobacco in smokeless form. Proportion of students consuming alcohol was 4.07%. Various perceptions of the participants were revealed by Focussed Group Discussions conducted.
Conclusions: Proportion of students using tobacco and alcohol is very high. The knowledge of school students regarding ill effects of these habits is poor.
