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Introduction

Smoking is a massive part of society and is seen as a normal part of social mannerism. Although it is widely well-known that smoking is injurious to health, it still does not change the fact that it remains a highly coveted part of social life. The prominence of smoking and tobacco-based products has started to become more and more prominent among youths and adolescents. The act of smoking has also become more prolific with the legalization and availability of marijuana, which has become excessively popularized among the younger generation, teenagers, and adolescents. Over the years, the total number of adolescent smokers has been on the rise (Al Omari, et. al., 2020). More and more youth and younger generations have access to different products like cigarettes, joints, blunts and vape pens, which is promoting the increase of young smokers. The aim of the paper is to present literature regarding the knowledge, attitude, and practice of tobacco smoking among youth through the use and analysis of the appropriate theoretical framework and past research.  

Tobacco Smoking Among Youth-Free Essay

Smoking has been a major part of society for a long time. One of the main aspects for which smoking has managed to retain its relevance despite its active health impacts is its effect on dealing with stress and anxiety. The inhalation of nicotine from tobacco provides an immediate sense of calm and relaxation, which results in smokers believing that it helps in dealing with anxiety and stress. But as mentioned, this sensation is immediate and short-lived. As the effects of nicotine fade, the overall feeling of stress and anxiety returns with greater intensity. This prompts the wanting for more tobacco-based products that can help in providing relief stress, even if it is on a temporary basis (Jawad, et. al., 2018). With the overall rise in stress levels among youths, more and more individuals are looking for recreational and alternative means in which to deal with stress, depression and anxiety.  Studies have found that the uptake of smoking tobacco, especially through waterpipes or hookahs, is much more common among young adults and adolescents in Middle Eastern countries (Jawad, et. al., 2018).
 
A key factor that needs to be considered is that adolescents are the time and age in which there is a high risk for the initiation of smoking. Antisocial deviant behaviour like aggression, rule-breaking and risk-taking are all behavioural cues that indicate the propensity of youth to initiate smoking tobacco as a deviant behaviour (Rani, Thamarangsi & Agarwal, 2017). The theory of deviance state that any behaviour that is is since society deems that behaviour to be so. In the past, the idea of smoking, especially among adolescents, teenagers and adolescents, was deviant behaviour that was struct and non-negotiable. But in more recent times, the act so the smoking tobacco has become more coercive and commonplace in society for anyone who is no longer defined as a child.  Smoking as a deviant behaviour has been strongly associated with Vietnamese-Americans in a case study by Weiss et al. (2020).
 
The practice of smoking tobacco has become more of a means of social interaction. Youths who are initiated into smoking are usually done so through social gatherings with their friend who is smokers (Macy et. al., 2019). They want a stigma to being socially accepted within the groups, and the fear of alienation is a string motivating factor for non-smoking youths to take up a cigarette. According to the research conducted by the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health, the use of cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, hookahs, and smokeless tobacco noncigarette combustible tobacco by non-smokers was associated with cigarette imitation within a span of one year (Watkins, Glantz & Chaffee, 2018). This also feeds an increase in the overall number of cases of addiction to smoking while also lowering the average age for smoking initiation (Watkins, Glantz & Chaffee, 2018). As a direct result of this, the increase in morbidity of youth. Youth who take up smoking from below the age of 15 years has a higher risk of dying early (CDC, 2022). The adverse effects of smoking from an early age result in young adults and youth and teens developing avoidable issues like shortness of breath, lowered stamina, hampered athletic performance, reduced growth of the lungs and can also result in early cardiovascular damage.  Overall, smoking and the inhalation of tobacco smoke remain one of the major contributors to the global burden of diseases, with it contributing to 8.8 per cent of mortality of people globally and 4.1 per cent of disability-adjusted years of life that are lost each year (Kaur, et. al., 2021).
 
The rampant uptake and smoking initiation by youth is greatly influenced by the social environment of the young adults and the social stimulus and cues that they are exposed to (CDC). The overall industry marketing makes the act of smoking attractive through advertisements and promotions. Similarly, the representation of smoking in media like television, video games, movies and on the internet result in young adults and youths taking u smoking themselves (CDC). Through this, there is an onset of early nicotine addiction that keeps the youths fixated on smoking and which makes them continue to smoke well into adulthood. Additionally, in recent times, more and more children between the ages of 3 and 18 years are being exposed to cigarette smoke through second-hand smoke exposure (CDC). Over 400,000 babies in the United States are exposed to second-hand smoking as a result of their mothers' smoking, even though bring well into the later stages of pregnancy (CDC). In the past 50 years, over 100,000 babies have died prematurely in the United States as a direct result of second-hand smoking (CDC).
 
Through analysis of the current trends by the Global Youth Tobacco Survey GYTS, the prevalence of cigarette smoking youths in the Maldives has risen from 3.8 per cent in 2007 to 4.7 per cent in 2019 (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019). Within the time frame of 2007 to 2019, the percentage of youth smokers for boys has risen from 6.6 per cent to 7.3 per cent, while for girls, it has risen from .09 per cent to 1.9 per cent (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019). For the girls, it can be seen that the rise in youth smokers has doubled in the past couple of years. Although there has been a drop in the exposure to second-hand smoking, in 2019, 47 per cent of the students in the Maldives, about half, remain consistently exposed to second-hand smoking in public spaces (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019). As such, the impact of second-hand smoking continues to remain a major point of concern for the youth of Maldives (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019).  Similarly, between 2007 and 2019 average prevalence of cigarette smokers that have bought cigarettes from stores and shops increased from 34 per cent in 2007 to 35.4 per cent in 2019 (Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2019).
 
Conclusion
 
In conclusion, it can be stated that, although there has been increased awareness of the impact of smoking and tobacco inhalation, there continues to remain a distinct effect of smoking among youths and adolescents. Despite there being multiple research that exposes the harmful effects of smoking, the overall statistics of youth smoker remains on a steady rise. More and more youth and younger generations have access to different products like cigarettes, joints, blunts and vape pens, which is promoting the increase of young smokers. The influence of industry marketing also promotes the youth to take up smoking both as means of social participation and interaction as well as a form of deviant behaviour.
 
Reference List

Al Omari, O., Al Sabei, S., Al Rawajfah, O., Abu Sharour, L., Aljohani, K., Alomari, K., ... & Alhalaiqa, F. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress among youth at the time of COVID-19: an online cross-sectional multicountry study. Depression research and treatment, 2020.
 
 
CDC. (2022). Youth and Tobacco Use. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/index.htm
 
 
CDC. Smoking and Youth. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/pdfs/fs_smoking_youth_508.pdf
 
 
Global Youth Tobacco Survey. (2019). Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)-Maldives 2019 [Ebook]. Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS).
 
 
Jawad, M., Charide, R., Waziry, R., Darzi, A., Ballout, R. A., & Akl, E. A. (2018). The prevalence and trends of waterpipe tobacco smoking: A systematic review. PloS one, 13(2), e0192191.
 
 
Kaur, J., Rinkoo, A. V., Gouda, H. N., Prasad, V., & Pendse, R. N. (2021). Implementation of MPOWER Package in the South-East Asia Region: Evidence from the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (2009-2021). Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 22(S2), 71-80.
 
 
Macy, J. T., O'Rourke, H. P., Seo, D. C., Presson, C. C., & Chassin, L. (2019). Adolescent tolerance for deviance, cigarette smoking trajectories, and premature mortality: A longitudinal study. Preventive medicine, 119, 118-123.
 
 
Rani, M., Thamarangsi, T., & Agarwal, N. (2017). Youth tobacco use in South-East Asia: implications for tobacco epidemic and options for its control in the region. Indian Journal of Public Health, 61(5), 12.
 
 
Watkins, S. L., Glantz, S. A., & Chaffee, B. W. (2018). Association of noncigarette tobacco product use with future cigarette smoking among youth in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, 2013-2015. JAMA pediatrics, 172(2), 181-187.
 
 
Weiss, B., Nguyen, T., Trung, L., Ngo, V., & Lau, A. (2019). Tobacco smoking and antisocial deviance among Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and European-American adolescents. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 47(1), 59-69.
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