The rise of smoking teenagers in Indonesia has increased in numbers over the years. This concerning phenomenon has garnered the attention of faculty members from the Health Science Faculty at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus), Semarang.

One of those faculty members was Dr. Nurjanah, S.Km., M.Kes, an instructor from the Public Health Department. She revealed the primary factors of smoking teens from the age of 11 to 13. Through her research, Dr. Nurjanah highlighted that billboards and banners advertising cigarettes were the most contributing factor to this concerning phenomenon.

Hasil itu dijabarkannya melalui penelitian dengan judul ‘The Media Literacy Intervention to Reduce Intention to Smoke in Preadolescent’. Paper yang dihasilkan oleh Dr. Nurjanah mampu meraih prestasi sebagai juara tiga presentasi papers presentation category at the Ahla International Conference last October.

Menurut Dr. Nurjanah, proteksi diri mengenai ‘niat tidak merokok’ harus dimiliki anak sebelum remaja. Selain itu, regulasi tentang rokok di Indonesia terbilang lemah, hal itu terlihat masih banyaknya baliho dan spanduk iklan yang bertebaran di sepanjang jalan raya.

“Tak hanya di jalan juga, iklan di internet, televisi pun masih ada. Indonesia menjadi satu-satunya negara di Asia Pasifik yang masih ada iklan rokok di media,” imbuhnya.

Dr. Nurjanah’s research gave an intervention to children 11 to 13 years of age so that they can be aware that cigarette advertisements encouraged them to smoke, even though those advertisements did not directly condone the act of smoking.

The paper was presented in various elementary schools within Semarang. In addition, . critical thinking must also be instilled in students of these elementary schools.

“Anak harus kritis terhadap segala terpaan apa pun dan orang tua pun juga berperan penting dalam memberikan edukasi agar anak tidak memiliki niat untuk merokok,” jelasnya. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Humas Udinus)