Most studies on youth and tobacco use in India (including Global Youth Tobacco Surveys) focsues on high-school students (grades 8, 9 and 10). In Karnataka, pre-university education (grades 11, 12) is imparted through a seperate governmanet department and often in different settings than high-schools. This phase of life represents a transition of student from relatively more restricted school setting to liberal university setting. In order to understand tobacco use and related factors among pre-university students, IPH carried out an exploratory cross sectional study among 500 students of a purposely selected pre-university college in Bangalore city.  Study provided findings on tobacco use prevalence, reasons for (non) use of tobacco by students, awareness on tobacco harms, information sources for such awareness etc.

Study findings were published in the National Medical Journal of India and were subsequently disseminated through mass media reports. For more details, please see relevant publications and news reports.