About 21 per cent Mumbai youngsters smoke to 'look cool': survey

Mumbai: Nearly 21 per cent youngsters of the city smoke just to "look cool", while 17 per cent take a puff to get rid off stress, according to a survey. Around 1,500 students, including over 700 boys and 800 girls, aged 17-24 from south, central and suburban colleges in Mumbai were asked about their smoking habits in the survey conducted by Wockhardt Hospital and released on 'World No
Tobacco Day' today.

The youngsters were asked to fill a questionnaire on why they smoke, reasons for them to take up smoking, awareness about hazards of smoking, a release from Wockhardt Hospital said. According to the report, a large share of 59 per cent respondents said they were aware about the perils of smoking. "About 16 per cent of the respondents said they smoke just for fun, while 17 per cent said they take up smoking when stressed and to release tension. Nearly 21 per cent said they smoke to look 'cool', while 14 per cent stated that they smoke once a day," the report said.

The report stated that about 15 per cent of the surveyed youngsters smoke more than five times a day. Almost 66 per cent agreed that they will create awareness
about the ill effects of smoking and risk of oral cancer. "Cancer and cigarettes have a direct causal association. Right from the 1960s till date, cigarettes have been established as an ethology for various malignancies.

Back in the day, lack of awareness regarding the ill effects of smoking was considered as the main culprit for the increased smoking habits," Dr Boman Dabar, Medical Oncologist, Wockhardt Hospital said.

"There's no doubt that in today's technologically advanced day and age awareness has been created. It is time we tackle the other issues as simple as the easy availability of cigarettes, hike up the cost of cigarettes making it impossible for the common man to chain smoke," he said.