Prevalence of areca nut chewing habit among high school children of Parsa district of Nepal

Publication date: Available online 5 November 2016
Source:Journal of Oral Biology and Craniofacial Research
Author(s): Sartaj Singh Wazir, Pallak Arora, Shalini Kapoor, Raviraj Jayam, Sugandha Sharma, Trisha Rastogi
AimConsumption of areca nut products among school going children has become very common social evil in some areas of Nepal especially adjoining the Indian subcontinent. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of areca nut chewing habit among high school children in Terai belt of Nepal. The use of areca nut has become indigenous in this part and is being used by itself and in various formulations. The regular use of areca nut has been recognized as being carcinogenic to humans.Materials and methodsData on areca nut chewing habit among high school children was collected from 1359 students of age group 14–18 years from 13 schools of Parsa district of Nepal by random selection and the information was obtained from self administered questionnaire.ResultsThe results from this study shows that the areca nut chewing habit is significant among the students of Parsa district (30.4%) and the frequency of chewing plain Supari was reported to be high (81.6%) followed by pan masala (10.4%) and gutkha (08.0%) and the habit increased with age.ConclusionIt is mandatory to motivate the children not to initiate the habit and to enable the adolescent children to realize the potential health risk of areca nut products.



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