More than 8% of Bahraini pupils smoke, says study

Manama: More than eight per cent of Bahrain's pupils are regular smokers, a new study on adolescent health has revealed.

"The smoking rate among young people in general is 12.7 per cent while it is 8.3 per cent among the intermediate and secondary school pupils," said the study prepared by school health expert, Dr Mariam Al Hajri.

The student figure sharply contrasts with the 25.8 per cent prevalence rate put forward in a 2003 study by Nizar Al Haddad from Gulf Air Medical Services and Randa Hamadeh from the Arabian Gulf University College of Medicine and Medical Sciences in Bahrain.

Concerns about the growing number of student smokers last February prompted Member of Parliament Dr Salah Ali to question the education minister about the prevalence of smoking in public and private schools and about the ministry's plans to counter it.

Bahrain issued an anti-smoking law that included measures to regulate tobacco use by young people.

The law bans sales of cigarettes and other tobacco derivatives to minors who are under 18, the import of vending machines and smoking in educational establishments.

But according to Al Hajri's study, smoking is only one of several 'unhealthy habits' among students in Bahrain.

"The obesity rate was 13 per cent among boys and 15.6 per cent among girls with only seven per cent of the pupils engaging in a physical activity of at least 30 minutes," she said.

"Pupils start experimenting with drugs at the age of 12 and 84.6 per cent of the under 31-year-olds using the banned substance are less than 20 years old," according to the study.