Water Pipe as Growing Public Health Challenge Among School Children in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Genotoxicity of waterpipe smoking in young adults from Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

“…Recent study, presenting data from 72 countries but not including Bosnia and Herzegovina, showed following waterpipe smoking prevalence among young adolescents, 11–16 years of age: European region (10.9%), Eastern Mediterranean region (10.7%), Western Pacific region (1.9%) [ 46 ]. According to the latest available data in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, conducted in 2019, with the majority of participants being 13–16 years old, 44.1% of them smoked waterpipe [ 4 ]. According to the study conducted by Brankovic et al (2017) 21.8% out of 410 included university students have been consuming tobacco products [ 47 ].…”

“…In regards to sex distribution, our study included 36% of male and 64% of female participants, with 42.5% of female smokers. According to Ramic-Catak et al [ 4 ], 39.9% of female school children ever smoked waterpipe, while no differences in frequencies of currently smoking males (17.7%) and females (14.4%) were found.…”

“…With the increasing popularity of waterpipes in the last decades, of particular concern is the fact that hookah users are often adolescents and young adults [ 3 ]. According to the fourth Global Tobacco Survey (GYTS) in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 44.1% of 6415 participants being 13–15 years old, tasted waterpipe; 16.1% consumed it regularly, and only 5.4% of them refused to consume waterpipe considering themselves to young [ 4 ].…”