Findings from a recent survey conducted during a cultural festival revealed that three out of four youngsters were not interested in marrying a smoker, eight out of ten girls said that they did not find smokers or tobacco users attractive and almost half the youngsters interviewed by Ormax Consultants for the Salaam Bombay Foundation, said that they were never comfortable in the company of smokers.

“We wanted to know more about the perceptions that youngsters had on tobacco users. The fact that so many women feel smoking is uncool, or finds a smoker repulsive, should be an eye-opener for both active and vulnerable smokers,” Devika Chaddha, project director, Salaam Bombay Foundation, said.

The Salaam Bombay Foundation, established in 2002, works primarily with government-run schools and children from the weakest section of the socio-economic strata.

The objective of the study was to assess the ‘Attitude of Mumbai youth towards smoking and use of tobacco for themselves and their partners/spouse’. A total of 524 males and 267 females aged between 18 to 25 years were surveyed during the Kala Ghoda festival earlier this month.

According to the survey, 47 per cent of both boys and girls said they were never comfortable being around smokers, 77 per cent of youngsters did not smoke, 88 per cent were aware of the health implications of smoking and 62 per cent girls and 33.4 per cent boys did not consider smoking good.

A 43 per cent of them accepted that smoking was a bad habit.

The greatest reason to smoke in this group was peer pressure — overall 46.4 per cent.