BENGALURU: The second round of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2) 2016-17 released on Thursday here by state legislative assembly deputy speaker Shivashankara Reddy revealed that overall tobacco use prevalence has declined significantly among adults in Karnataka – from 28.2 per cent in 2009-10 (GATS-1) to 22.8 per cent (GATS-2) in 2016-17.
From each of the sampled households, one household member aged 15 and above was randomly selected for individual interview. In Karnataka, out of 2,714 interviewed, 1,311 males and 1,403 females were interviewed during September - October 2016. It was also found that children are starting to use tobacco at a later age than earlier.
The mean age at initiation of tobacco use has increased from 17.7 years in GATS 1 to 19.8 years in GATS 2. Smoking has decreased among adults from 11.9 per cent to 8.8 per cent during this time period. Smokeless tobacco use has decreased by 3.1 per cent though (from 19.4 per cent to 16.3 per cent). Betel quid with tobacco, beedi and gutka are the three most commonly used tobacco products. 9.4 per cent of adults use betel quid with tobacco and 5.9 per cent of adults each, smoke bidi and use gutka.
GATS is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use (smoking and smokeless) and tracking key tobacco control indicators. It was conducted in all 30 states of India and two Union Territories. The first round of GATS was conducted in 2009-10.
