Smoking trends among women in India: Analysis of nationally representative surveys (1993-2009)

There is growing concern among policy makers with respect to alarming growth in smoking prevalence among women in the developing countries.

USING DISAGGREGATED DATA FROM FIVE NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SURVEYS: Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2010, National Family Health Survey-III (NFHS-III) 2004-2005, NFHS-II 1998-1999, National Sample Survey (NSS) 52(nd) Round 1995-1996, NSS 50(th) Round 1993-1994 we analysed female smoking trend from 1993-2009. Tobacco use among females was monitored for almost two decades focusing on gender, literacy, and state-specific trends among respondents aged >15 years.

Smoking use among women has doubled from 1.4% to 2.9% (P < 0.001) during the period 2005-2010. The prevalence of smoking increased with decrease in per capita State Gross Domestic Product and literacy status for both men and women.

As the overall smoking prevalence grows, female smoking is growing at a faster rate than smoking among males, which is an emerging concern for tobacco control in India and requires the attention of policymakers.