Influence of Cigarette Warning Label on Smoking Behaviour among Education Students of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo, Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, the government has used different measures to fight tobacco use and abuse among her youths, who are the leaders of tomorrow. One of such measures is the use of anti-smoking warning messages such as “smokers’ are liable to die young”. The study examined the influence of warning labels on education student smoking behaviour in the College of Education, UNIOSUN, Osogbo, Nigeria. Data was obtained through the administration of one hundred and twenty copies of structured questionnaire to education students across three highly patronized bars and restaurants in the area. The results revealed that multimedia was the most accessible cigarette warning label. It identified electronic media houses such as TV and radio and cigarette packs as the main sources of cigarette warning labels awareness Pearson’s correlation result indicated a positive and significant association between students’ smoking behaviour and their attitude toward cigarette warning labels (r = 0.42, p<0.01). The study suggests that cigarette warning labels should be incorporated into academic curricula to create more awareness of the health consequences of tobacco use

Keywords: Warning label, Cigarette smoking, Education students, Student’s Attitude