New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS): Most Indian soldiers smoke to stay alert at the border and kill boredom, according to an internal study by the armed forces.
The study by the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMC), Pune also revealed that two-three decades ago, there was high prevalence of smokers in the armed forces but it is changing fast.
"The image of an Indian soldier has been more or less projected in our cinemas as one always with a cigarette or tobacco pipe. There were high prevalence of smokers in the armed forces two-three decades back but it is changing," said Col A.K. Jindal, professor, Department of Community Medicine, AFMC.
Jindal was speaking at the "International Conference on Public Health Priorities in the 21st Century: the Endgame for Tobacco", held Sep 11-12 here.
The study found most soldiers who smoke do so to relieve stress and boredom while many have picked up the habit before joining the services.
"When a soldier is guarding the border for eight to 10 hours, he has the urge to smoke to kill boredom. So we have to find an alternative which can help him in this," he said.
According to Jindal, easy availability of tobacco and to stay alert at the border are two important reasons behind soldiers continuing smoking.
"We know that hypertension, diabetes and many other lifestyle diseases are linked to tobacco, so we need to have a standalone tobacco policy," he said.
Jindal said the seriousness of armed forces to tobacco usage could be seen from the fact that the smoke allowance was stopped in 1995.
"Now, most areas like training academies and messes are tobacco-free zones," he said.
Jindal said following AFMC's concerted efforts in the form of IEC (Information Education and Communication), tobacco use in the services has declined considerably. However, there is no room for complacency.
"Civilian campaigns have helped a lot in curbing tobacco usage in the armed forces. There is a need to have a standalone tobacco policy to specifically have an endgame for tobacco as regards soldiers," he added.