HYDERABAD: A 15-year-old resident of Rajendranagar who was inspired by the character ‘Rocky’ from a recently released movie, fell sick after he smoked a full packet of cigarettes.
The teenager had to be rushed to the emergency department of a hospital after he took to chain smoking for the first time. He developed severe cough and throat ache complications and had to be counselled apart from providing with medical attention.
The teenager was inspired by a movie character ‘Rocky Bhai’ and had taken to smoking after watching the movie on a loop. The parents of the teenager rushed him to the hospital, when they learnt that he had smoked a packet of cigarettes after which he was feeling unwell.
Apparently, the charecter from the movie inspired him to smoke for the first time, only to fall severely sick.
“Teenagers do get easily influenced by characters like ‘Rocky Bhai’. In this case, this young boy took to smoking and fell sick after consuming a pack of cigarettes. Movies are a highly influencing element of our society, and it is important movie makers and actors have a moral responsibility to not glamorise acts like smoking, chewing tobacco and consuming alcohol. Characters like ‘Rocky’ have a cult following and young minds do get influenced by the acts of these ‘demigods’ on the screen,” said Dr Rohith Reddy, consultant pulmonologist, Century Hospital.
Experts point that cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence causes significant health problems among young people, including an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness and potential effects on lung growth and function. Most importantly, this is when an addiction to smoking takes hold, often lasting into and sometimes throughout adulthood.
Among adults who have ever smoked daily, 87% had tried their first cigarette by the time they were 18 years of age, and 95% had by age 21, doctors opine.
