Abstract
Background: The phenomenon of smoking among schoolchildren has been observed to stem from lenient
attitudes of teachers towards smoking. Smoking, a health hazard, proven over years of research, leads to
increase in morbidity and mortality rates. This study determined the role of school policies and teacher
attitudes towards the perception and adoption of smoking habits by students of private and public schools.
Method: This was a cross-sectional study in which 632 school personnel in various private and public schools
of South Karachi filled a questionnaire. Informed consent was obtained from all participants; ethical
approval for this study was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee of JPMC before the study was
conducted. Data was collected via survey forms after consent from individuals. Statistical analysis was done
using SPSS v.17.
Results: The prevalence of teacher smoking within school premises was found to be 8.8% and 5.9% in private
and public sectors, respectively. A significant difference was found between the school policies enforced in
private and government schools against personnel found smoking (p=0.00016). Even though private school
personnel smoked more in school premises than government but 32.6% of private school teachers felt
responsible for teaching about health compared to only 21.5% public school teachers (p=0.0072).
Conclusion: There is a pressing need for awareness and education of teachers regarding their attitude
towards smoking on school grounds and its significant link with students adopting smoking. Other exposures
and risk factors influencing student tobacco usage needs to be studied in more depth.
Maria Malik, Ashok Kumar, Deepa Mohan Lal, Wasfa Farooq, Kaneez Zehra, Ali Hamza Khan, Hamza Usman, Sajjad Ali, Nadeem Rizvi. (2020) Awareness of Health Policies and Risks Regarding Tobacco Smoking Among School Teachers in Pakistan, The Pakistan Journal of Medicine and Dentistry, Volume 9, Issue-1.
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