School going children who are under the age of 15 years, who are in Grade 7 up to form three are smoking tobacco more than adults in Zimbabwe, a research by government has revealed.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2014 which was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Child Care whose results were published on Wednesday,  it has been established that 20% of children under the age of 15 years are heavily smoking tobacco.
The Demographic Health Survey of 2011-2012 established that only 22% of the adult population is estimated to be using tobacco products.
“20% of the students, 22% of boys and 15.8% of girls currently used any tobacco products,” said the research.
“16.2% of the students, 17.3% of boys and 12, 8% of girls currently smoked tobacco”.
The research noted,“ 12.4% of the children started smoking at the age of 7 years or younger”.
“31.8% of the students were exposed to tobacco at home and 48.7% were exposed to tobacco smoke inside enclosed public spaces”.
A total  number of  6, 427 students in Grade 7 in Primary schools and forms 1-3 of Secondary schools of between the ages of 13-15100 primary and secondary schools  from all the country’s 10 provinces were sampled .