Exposure to Tobacco Advertising and Promotion among School Children Aged 13-15 in Vietnam - an Overview from GYTS 2014

Abstract

Evidence shows that tobacco advertising and promotion activities may increase tobacco consumption and<br />usage, especially in youth. Despite the regulation on prohibiting advertisement of any tobacco product, tobacco<br />advertisement and promotion activities are still common in Vietnam. This article presents current exposure to<br />tobacco advertising and promotion (TAP) among school children aged 13 to 15 years in Vietnam in 2014 and<br />potential influencing factors. Data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2014 in Vietnam covering 3,430 school<br />aged children were used. Both descriptive and analytical statistics were carried out with Stata 13 statistical<br />software. Binary logistic regression was applied to explain the exposure to TAP among youth and examine<br />relationships with individual factors. A significance level of p<0.05 and sampling weights were used in all of<br />the computations. In the past 30 days, 48.6% of the students experienced exposure to at least 1 type of tobacco<br />advertising or promotion. Wearing or otherwise using products related to tobacco was the most exposure TAP<br />type reported by students (22.3%). The internet (22.1), points of sales (19.2) and social events (11.5) were three<br />places that students aged 13-15 frequently were exposed to TAP. Binary logistic results showed that gender<br />(female vs male) (OR = 0.61, 95%CI: 0.52 - 0.71), susceptibility to smoking (OR = 2.12, 95%CI: 1.53 - 2.92),<br />closest friends' smoked (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.2 - 1.7) and parents smoking status (OR = 2.83, 95%CI: 1.6 -<br />5.01) were significantly associated with TAP exposure among school-aged children. The research findings should<br />contribute to effective implementation of measures for preventing and controlling tobacco use among students<br />aged 13-15 in Viet Nam.