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Risky business
JUN 24 -
As we commemorate International Drug Day on June 26, it is important to understand its impact on the youth-the future productive citizens of Nepal. With this in mind, Martin Chautari, Nepal-a research and policy institute in Nepal-commissioned the following research to comprehend the prevalence and trend of tobacco, drug and alcohol use among higher secondary (HS) students in Kathmandu valley. This article is based on a preliminary overview of findings from randomly selected 2,381 students sampled from a cross-section of those attending ‘plus two’and ‘A-level’educational institutions in Kathmandu valley (covering the metropolitan areas of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts) during February to April 2010. These findings give us pause to think through the extent of risky behaviour among HS students in Kathmandu and the current strategies undertaken to address these issues.
In terms of tobacco use, around one-third of the students (32 percent) indicated that they had smoked a cigarette. Amongst them, nearly half (45 percent) of male students said they had smoked, compared to nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of female students. The average age for initiation to smoking was 14.1 years, translating roughly to grade eight or nine. Around half of the students who smoked said they had been smoking at least one cigarette a week for more than a year.
Nearly half of the students (45 percent) said they had consumed alcohol-defined as a whole drink and not just a sip. Gender wise, nearly 60 percent of male students and 34 percent of female students had consumed alcohol. The mean age for initiation to alcohol use was 14.3 years, translating roughly to grade eight or nine. Half of the students drinking within the seven days leading up to the interviews had indulged in dangerous drinking practices. More specifically, their drinking bouts involved mixing drinking liquor with beer or chyang. This indicates the intention of students to mix drinks or to drink whatever type of alcohol is at their disposal. Drinking to get drunk was also the intention of nearly half (48 percent) the students, who reported being ‘drunk’in the last seven days.
Furthermore, ‘binge drinking’was also prevalent among drinking students; half of them indicated that they had five or more drinks on the same occasion in the last 30 days. More than half of the students mentioned Saturday and Sunday as their days for drinking (31 percent indicated Saturday followed by a quarter on Friday). For girls, Saturday (34 percent) was followed by Sunday (25 percent) as their drinking days. Nearly half of students (45 percent) said they used alcohol at parties with friends. Male students were more likely to use alcohol in parties (52 percent) while female students were more likely to consume alcohol at home (51 percent). Of those who bought alcohol from a purchasing point, 96 percent said the seller didn’t ask for evidence to verify whether they were of legal age to purchase alcohol. Importantly, more than 90 percent of students (males and females) didn’t know the legal drinking age of Nepal.
In terms of drug use, close to a quarter of the students (20 percent) said they had used drugs. Of those, nearly 30 percent were male and 11 percent female students. Cannabis was the most widely used drug among the students (nearly 60 percent reported using cannabis). Furthermore, nearly 60 percent of the students using drugs said that the last time they used drugs they shared some of it with others. This indicates the easy availability of drugs amongst peers.
As for sexual health, the students were only relatively informed about HIV/AIDS and menstruation; around half the students in sample were generally unaware of crucial areas of sexual and reproductive health. Around 55 percent of students said they had unintentionally or intentionally seen a sexually explicit or pornographic website, pictures or movies. The figures were much higher for male students (73 percent) than female students (34 percent). A majority of the female students (64 percent) said they had viewed these sources ‘accidentally’, with 20 percent blaming pop-up menus and advertisements. Many male students (32 percent) said they deliberately watched these sources.
Importantly, many students using substances were also sexually active. Nearly 70 percent of alcohol users said they have had sexual intercourse. Also, nearly half of the drug users and those who had said they had smoked acknowledged they have had sexual intercourse.
Overall in terms of knowledge, education and awareness on substance use, students were only familiar with the information on drug related harms that were communicated through main-stream media. For example, nearly four-fifths (79 percent) of all students felt that injecting drugs can lead to HIV. However, only around one-third (36 percent) knew that injecting drug can lead to Hepatitis C. Further, nearly half of all students (49 percent) and 55 percent of female students didn’t know that brown sugar was addictive. More than half the students said they didn’t receive any lessons or discussions on smoking, drug use, and blood-borne HIV infection in schools and colleges. Even where such information was made available, students felt that they were not practical or relevant: only around one-third (34 percent) of students said the lessons helped them find out where to get information or help about smoking, alcohol or tobacco.
It is clear that the Nepali youth are living in a society of rapid change with easy access to information, goods and a lifestyle foreign to older generations. It is therefore crucial that we understand the prevalence and trends of high-risk behaviour in order to better enable the youth to be more fully informed and better cope with the widespread challenges, temptations and issues of their generation.
(Sinha is a social scientist with research interest in substance use and youth culture)
Posted on: 2010-06-25 08:15
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