Source: beta.thehindu.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 2, 2010: Did you know that 8.3 percent of Indian girls between 13-15 years of age consume some form of tobacco? The statistic acquires significance as World No Tobacco Day was observed Monday with an emphasis on the marketing of tobacco to women.
“Adolescent girls are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, they are trying to hook young girls through advertisements,” Bhavna Mukhopadhayay, executive director of the NGO Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), told IANS. “Some advertisements on TV bring back well known cigarette brands and certain advertisements in magazines inform that girls who smoke can become slim and glamorous.”
In India, the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to people under the age of 18 is banned. But the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2009 for India found that 8.3 percent of girls in the 13-15 age group consume some form of tobacco.