Influence of Education and Occupation on Smokeless Tobacco Use among Male Adults in India

Ramu, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

This paper is an effort to analyze the influence of education and occupation as critical determinants to using smokeless tobacco among male adults in India and its selected states. By using the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), India, 2009-10 data the study presents a distinct picture of tobacco use among male adults for different background characteristics. The treatment of Bi-variate and Multivariate (Cox proportion hazards model) analysis in the study evidently suggest that majority of Indian male adults are using Khaini and Gutkha (Local names for tobacco). The analysis also shows that education and occupation are two critical predictors of use of smokeless tobacco. The states of backward region have higher use of smokeless tobacco compared to the developed states in India. Hence, there is an urgent need to minimize this gap between different regions and other subgroups to ensure an overall growth environment for all citizens in the country.