Implication of Smoking on the Health of Youth

IMPLICATION OF SMOKING ON THE HEALTH OF YOUTH IN NUNG UDOE, IBESIKPO ASUTAN LCOAL GOVERNMENT AREA, AKWA IBOM STATE

 

 A RESEARCH PROJECT

 

SUBMITTED TO

 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE

 

ABSTRACT

The study is carried out in Nung Udoe Clan, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State to “Implication of Cigarette Smoking on the health of Youths” Five research questions formulated to help in the conduct of the study. A descriptive survey method with a population of one hundred (100) respondents used. A simple and sample technique was adopted. Instrument used was self constructed questionnaire with 20 items to obtain information from 100 respondents from the 10 (10) villages using simple percentages.

From the result, it was discovered that a greater number of the respondents 69.5% disagreed that smoking has bad effects on the body while 32.5% claimed to have known the effects of tobacco on the body. Therefore, it was recommended that the youths should be made to realize that smoking harms nearly every organ of the body causing diseases and reducing the longevity of smokers.

 

Implication of Smoking on the Health of Youth

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

Smoking is the act of inhaling and exhaling the fumes of burning plant material. A variety of plant materials are smoked, including marijuana and hashish, but the act is most commonly associated with tobacco as smoked in a cigarette, cigar or pipe. The tobacco contains nicotine, an alcoholic that is addictive and can have both stimulating and tranquilizing psycho active effect. The smoking of tobacco, long practice by American Indians, was introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus and other explorers.

Smoking later spread to other areas and today is widely practiced around the world despite medical, social and religious arguments against it. The study is centered on villages in Nung Udoe in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. An organic compound that is nicotine is the principal alkaloid of tobacco. (An alkaloid is of a group of Nitrogenous organic compounds that have marked physiological effects on humans). Nicotine occurs throughout the tobacco plant and especially in the leaves.

The compound constitutes about 5 percent of the plant by weight. Both the tobacco plant (Nicotine tobaccum) and the compound are named after Jeam Nicot, a French ambassador to Portugal, who sent tobacco seed to Paris in 1550.

Crude Nicotine was known by 1571 and the compound was obtained in purified form in 1828, the correct molecular formula was established in 1843, and the first laboratory synthesis was reported in 1904. Nicotine is one of the few liquid alkaloid. In its pure state, it is a colorless, odourless liquid with an oily consistency, but when exposed to light or air, it acquires a brown color gives off a strong odour of tobacco. Nicotine’s chemical formula is C₁₀ H₁₄ N₂.

Nicotine is the Chief additive ingredient in the tobacco used in cigarette, cigars and snuff in its psychoactive effects, nicotine is a unique substance with an injurious effect. When inhaled in short puffs it has a stimulant effect, but when smoked in deep drags It can have a tranquilizing effect. This is why smoking can feel invigorating at sometimes and can be seen to block stressful stimuli at others.

Nicotine is also an addictive drag, through tendency to characteristically, display a strong tendency to relapse often having successfully stopped smoking for a time. When ingested in large doses, nicotine is a highly toxic poison that causes vomiting and nausea, headaches, stomach pains and in severe cases, convulsion, paralysis and death.

Nicotine is commercially obtained from tobacco and is used as an insecticides and as a veterinary vermituge. Nitric acid or other oxidizing agents convert to nicotinic acid, or niacin. When is used as a food supplement. Recently 67,000 reports have examined the connection between cigarette smoking and disease.

According to a U.S Surgeon general, it is safe to say that smoking represent the most extensively documented causes of disease ever investigated in the history of biomedical research. This causal relationship between smoking and human disease cannot be tested directly in a laboratory setting, for this means exposing human subject to cancer and other disease producing agents. This is morally and ethically unacceptable.

The World Health Organization (WHO) state that “much of the disease burden and preventive mortality is attributable to tobacco smoking with its health hazards. It is therefore important for researchers in the western world as well as developing countries to study cigarette smoking among the youths and the factors that lead to its onset.

This is also in agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) demand for more effort and co-operation among health advocates and practitioner in reversing the current trend in tobacco use. To be able to contribute to this global effort, I set out to study the current cigarette smoking habits among youth in Nung Udoe in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. Although several studies had been done among various categories of students in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria. There is need to redefine the present magnitude of cigarette smoking among the young people in Akwa Ibom State.

It is also important to identity those prevailing factors that lead to initiation and continuation of cigarette smoking in this group of people. In addition, it is expected that the findings will provide needed information that may aid further policy formulation for effective tobacco control in Nigeria. In fact, in measuring the degree of morbidity and mortality rate, cigarette smoking is now the most serious, as well as the most widespread form of addictive in the world.

Implication of Smoking on the Health of Youth

1.2     Statement of the Problem

Cigarette smoking of any kind has been observed as a problem in Nung Udoe Ibesikpo Asutan Local government Area. Records available show that health risk related to exposure to environmental cigarette smoke are well established. It has been found to be carcinogenic in human being and producing a substantial amount of morbidity and mortality from other health effects like acute and changing respiratory health effect on our youth and children from homes with smokers, even in home with occasional smoking demonstration there is no evidence for a safe exposure.

Virtually all youths know about peers and friends who remain greatly addicted to cigarette and who are unable to discontinue smoking despite the presence of serious, progressive cigarette related illness. However, the unsuccessful efforts by our youth to quit smoking, even in the face of significant physical damage and illness provide key finding leading to this research with the aim of finding solution to its.

 

1.3     Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the smoking habit of youths and the implication on their health in Nung Udoe clan in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.

 

Implication of Smoking on the Health of Youth

1.4     Objective of the Study

The objective of the study are:

• To determine the causes of smoking in Nung Udoe.
• To Identify the various smoking habit of the youth in Nung Udoe.
• To investigate the effects of smoking on the health of youth
• To suggest measures of controlling the smoking habits among youths.

 

1.5     Significance of the Study

The result of the study will be significant to the following agencies:

• Youths
• Community
• Health worker/educators
• Policy makers
• Parents
• Future researchers.

Youth: Youth in our society will be well vested with the negative implication of smoking and its effects in the life of young people that involves themselves on it. The harm to their health and make sensive organ to malfunction.

Community: with the significance of this study the community will bring out strategies on which they can reduce or totally condemn, absorbed smoking among the young people in the community.

Health Workers/ Educators: Health worker/educators will go on research for the reason of acquiring adequate methods and means on how they can eradicate smoking among youth.

Policy Makers: The policy makers in our country will pass into law, the punishment that can be meted to a young person involved directly or indirectly in the act of smoking for the purpose of disengaging them from smoking.

Parent: Parents has primary assignment to plays at home in the live of their children who have come on age and began to associate with peer groups in the society, by informing their ward never to engage in smoking that smoker are liable to die young, and if they want to live long they should not partake in smoking.

Future Researchers: The significant will provide a platform for future research person who want to work on this topic or similar topic. The result of this study will provide the researchers the necessary fact about the topic with what happens in our future.

1.6     Scope of the Study

The scope of the study will cover the implication of smoking habit on the health of youth in Nung Udoe Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.