title: Preliminary study of smoking and alcohol use among students in southern Sri Lanka.
abstract: 455 students, ages 15-19 years and living in a southern district of Sri Lanka, were self-administered a questionnaire to identify the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use and to assess student attitudes toward the alcohol and tobacco industries. The current prevalence of smoking was 10.6% among men and 0.0% among women. The current prevalence of alcohol use was 21.2% among men and 3.3% among women. A significantly higher proportion of men than women expressed favorable attitudes toward the alcohol industry (27% versus 7%) and the tobacco industry (13% versus 5%). Given that aggressive marketing strategies are used by these industries to promote their products among young people, epidemiological studies of the substances using scientifically sound methods to formulate effective prevention strategies are essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Bilesha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Torabi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D013188:Sri Lanka; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*