TikTok – Potential Impact on the Use of Smokeless Tobacco and Betel Quid by Young People

Abstract

Around 600 million people globally chew betel quid (BQ). Three-quarters of its consumption is concentrated in the countries of the Pacific islands, South and Southeast Asia (Auluck et al., 2009). This habit begins at a very young age of almost 13 years and makes adolescents a high-risk group (Sorensen et al., 2005). BQ has a known relaxing and stimulating effect by acting on the autonomic nervous system (Winstock, 2002). The formulation of BQ depends on a variety of factors, which can include the cultural background of the country, regional background, personal preferences, and the availability of certain ingredients. It usually consists of betel leaf, betel/areca nut, slaked lime with or without tobacco (IARC, 2004). Commonly available products are; paan (preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut with/without tobacco), paan masala, supari, chaaliya, guthka and other

TikTok Content Analysis on Smokeless Tobacco and Betel Quid: Perception Versus Reality

“…We read with great interest the paper by Senevirathna and colleagues titled 'TikTok-potential impact on the use of smokeless tobacco and betel quid by young people.' (Senevirathna et al, 2022). We take this opportunity to discuss some of the intricacies associated with the keyword terminologies used and its probable impact on the data interpretation.…”