Prevalence of Smoking among High School Students in Thimphu, Bhutan

Smoking is common among youths due to the increasing pace of modernization. It is also a major public health problem worldwide, causing preventable deaths and giving socio-economic burdens to society. Despite strict surveillance and the Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan, Bhutanese youths are increasingly found smoking. However, Bhutan has limited studies on smoking, particularly focusing on high school students. Thus, this study determined the prevalence of smoking among high school students of Thimphu, Bhutan. The self-structured questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 357 students determined using the Yamane formula. The result showed that the overall prevalence of smoking was 48.5%. More male students (63.6%) were found smoking than female students (28.3%). Students smoked different forms of tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and bidis, but commonly used tobacco product was cigarettes (63.4%). The most cited reasons for smoking were addiction, followed by peer pressure and outlook fashion. The risks of tobacco use are highest among those who start early and continue its use for a long period. Therefore, the early age of smoking initiation underscores the urgent need to intervene and protect high school students from falling prey to smoking addiction.