Abstract

Background: Considerable morbidity and mortality all through the life occurs as a result of multiple risk behaviors. Adolescence (10–19 years) is an important stage of life for establishing healthy behaviors determining current and future health. So, it becomes necessary to investigate the risk behaviors during these years.

Objective: To study and compare the health-risk behavior of rural and urban male adolescents with regard to tobacco, alcohol, and other drug abuse.

Materials and Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 1 year in RS Pura (rural area) and Jammu city (urban area) of district Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Information on a pretested, semi–open-ended, self-administered 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire was obtained from all the students (15–19 years) studying in 9th to 12th class of 12 randomly selected schools.

Result: The total sample of 848 adolescents comprised nearly equal number of urban (438) and rural (410) adolescents and of similar average age. However, a higher proportion of rural adolescents was observed to have ever tried cigarette smoking (38.78% rural vs. 20.78% urban). The majority of adolescents in both urban (71.92%) and rural (80%) areas were not consuming alcohol. More rural adolescents had used cannabis (20% rural vs. 12% urban), with the majority of them experimenting this in early adolescence.

Conclusion: High-risk behavior observed among adolescents necessitates an urgent need for scaling up of antitobacco and antialcohol measures to ensure healthier adulthood.

Key words: Adolescents, smoking, alcohol, substance abuse