摘要："Introduction: Tobacco consumption is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality all over the world. This habit is increasingly being taken up at an early age. Various factors have been implicated for the uptake of the habit including inadequate knowledge and unfavorable attitude. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban schools in a town, located in South-west Karnataka. The students belonged to 8th and 9th grade and were aged between 13 to 15 years. A self-administered questionnaire adapted from Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) was used for the study.. Result: A total of 1271 students participated in the study with equal participation from boys and girls. The mean knowledge score for the study participants was 14.57 ± 4.0. Approximately 36% of the students had poor knowledge and was significantly less in females compared to males. The knowledge score was significantly different with respect to parent’s occupation, their favorable or unfavorable attitude towards not using tobacco products and presence of a smoking family member. Conclusion: In spite of several measures taken to improve the knowledge regarding tobacco hazards and laws among the ado-lescents, there are various barriers which need to be addressed for effectiveness of these interventions. "
