title: A cross-country comparison of tobacco consumption among youths from selected South-Asian countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tobacco consumption (TC) among youths poses significant public health problem in developing countries. This study utilized the data of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 2007 to examine and compare youth TC behavior in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
  
  
  METHODS
  The GYTS covered a total of 2,242 Bangladeshi, 1,444 Nepalese and 1,377 Sri-Lankan youths aged 13-15 years. They represented response rates of 88.9%, 94.6%, and 85.0% for the three countries, respectively. Socioeconomic, environmental, motivating, and programmatic predictors of TC were examined using cross tabulations and logistic regressions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of TC was 6.9% (9.1% in males, 5.1% in females) in Bangladesh, 9.4% (13.2% in males, 5.3% in females) in Nepal and 9.1% (12.4% in males, 5.8% in females) in Sri Lanka. The average tobacco initiation age was 9.6, 10.24 and 8.61 years, respectively. Cross tabulations showed that gender, smoking among parents and friends, exposure to smoking at home and public places, availability of free tobacco were significantly (P < 0.001) associated with TC in all three countries. The multivariable analysis [odds ratio (95% confidence interval)] indicated that the common significant predictors for TC in the three countries were TC among friends [1.9 (1.30-2.89) for Bangladesh, 4.10 (2.64-6.38) for Nepal, 2.34 (1.36-4.02) for Sri Lanka], exposure to smoking at home [1.7 (1.02-2.81) for Bangladesh, 1.81 (1.08-2.79) for Nepal, 3.96 (1.82-8.62) for Sri Lanka], exposure to smoking at other places [2.67 (1.59-4.47) for Bangladesh, 5.22 (2.76-9.85) for Nepal, 1.76 (1.05-2.88) for Sri Lanka], and the teaching of smoking hazards in schools [0.56 (0.38-0.84) for Bangladesh, 0.60 (0.41-0.89) for Nepal, 0.58 (0.35-0.94) for Sri Lanka].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An understanding of the influencing factors of youth TC provides helpful insights for the formulation of tobacco control policies in the South-Asian region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. alamgirfa_juniv@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad Alamgir
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.forename: Kim-Leng
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: Mobarak Hossain
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014026:Nicotiana