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In what can be called an “uncool” development for the country’s public health landscape, an increasing number of teenage girls are taking up smoking. The latest India Tobacco Control report, released by the Union Health Ministry, indicated that while overall tobacco consumption has gone down across the country, smoking has gone up more than two-fold in adolescent girls. The report said, “The prevalence of smoking in girls far surpasses that in women, indicating a concerning trend of the younger generation becoming increasingly hooked on tobacco.

” On World No Tobacco Day, let’s take a closer look at the reasons behind this troubling trend and understand the significant health risks cigarettes pose for young girls. How adolescent smokers are on the rise According to the report, the past decade has seen a rise in smoking among adolescents, with the most pronounced increase occurring among girls. It said between 2009 and 2019, the smoking rate among girls surged by 3.



8 percentage points, reaching 6.2 per cent. In contrast, the smoking rate among boys rose by 2.

3 percentage points during the same period. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes adolescence as the phase of life between childhood and adulthood, from ages 10 to 19. This alarming trend among adolescent girls comes even as smoking rates among adults have declined, with a 2.

2 percentage point drop in men and a 0.4 percentage point reduction in women. Notably, the prevalence of smoking among girls in 201.

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