Sale and promotion of tobacco products to youth around schools in a metropolitan city : A shoe leather survey

Abstract

Objectives: Tobacco causes 6 million deaths globally and India accounts for one-sixth of the world’s tobacco- related deaths; 37.9% of children begin tobacco use by the age of 10 years in India. Our objective was to document tobacco retailers’ prevalence, point of sale (PoS) add and their attitude toward selling tobacco around educational institutions in Chennai metropolitan city. Materials and Methods: All the educational institutions in Mugappair, Chennai city were shoe leather surveyed in May 2014. A total of 26 institutions and all the retailers within 100 yards were surveyed for PoS, advertisement, no sale to minor signage, and institutional sign regarding ban on sale of tobacco within 100 yards of premises. Retailers also filled a self-administered questionnaire on their attitude toward selling tobacco. Results: A total of 57 retailers within 100 yards of the institution were surveyed. About 94.7% sold tobacco, of which 31 were shops, 15 were cafes, and 8 were temporary settlements meant only for sales of tobacco. About 73% were located within 10 m from the institutions. Only one institution displayed tobacco ban and one retailer had ban on tobacco sale to minor signage. About 47.3% did not want to stop selling tobacco, 68.4% reported tobacco sale profitable, and 78.9% suggested stopping production of tobacco to improve compliance (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Unrestricted availability, access to tobacco among the youth, and enactment nonfeasance toward tobacco control laws were widely prevalent. Our observations can help formulate specific programs to counteract tobacco epidemic prevalent among youth of this nation.