Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (<i>Catha edulis Forsk</i>) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia

Muluneh Bekele Etana

doi:doi:10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia

Muluneh Bekele Etana

Received: 6 July 2018 Accepted: 17 July 2018 Published: 16 August 2018

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Abstract

Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. The leaf of Khat comes from a small evergreen shrub that can grow to the size of a tree. Both young buds and tender leaves are chewed to attain a state of euphoria and stimulation. Khat leaves contain Cathinone which it’s an active brain stimulant and Khat ingestion in low doses results in decreased appetite, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and hyper-alertness.High doses and chronic use of Khat can cause more serious adverse neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dental, gastrointestinal and genitourinary effects. Besides damaging health, Khat chewing has adverse socio-economic consequences effects on many other aspects of life. It has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. This study was conducted from September to June 2017 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 samples were included in the study. Structured questionnaire were employed during data collection with the main objectives of to assess the socio-economic effects of Khat chewing among youth of Sebeta town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The studies revealed that Khat chewing was associated with carelessness, frequent absenteeism from working place, poor academic performance of chewer students, poor interaction with the societies, depression and anxiety, poor confidence, exposed for economic problem, health problems, conflict in the family. Generally,the current Khat chewing practices in the study area are relatively high. So efforts like creating awareness about negative effects, making different recreation methods available, addressing the underlying social problems of unemployment, poor housing, and cultural alienation and promote positive measures for community development and develop a health education program to raise awareness and formulating common conventions regarding Khat use mainly by young generations are necessary to decrease the magnitude of chewing practices and thereby its associated consequences.

DOI	10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
Published in	Biomedical Statistics and Informatics (Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2018)
Page(s)	29-33
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Economy, Impacts, Khat Chewing, Social, Sebeta, Youth

References

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[2]	Baashar T. The Use of Khat: A stimulant with regional distribution. In: Edwards G, Arif A, editors. Drug Problems in the Sociocultural Context: A Basis for Policies and Programme Planning. Geneva: WHO; 1980.
[3]	Abraham D. The impact of long term consumption of Khat on public health. The Sidama Concern. 2000;5 (4):15–16.
[4]	Althani IM. In: Development a Saudi Solution for Khat Problem. Khat AlMarzoki H, Abu Khatwa A.N, editors. Jeddah, Mutbouat Publications; 1987. pp. 241-57.
[5]	Halbach H. Medical aspects of the chewing of Khat leaves. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 1972; 47:21–9.
[6]	Lqman W, Donaldson T. The use of Khat (Catha edulis) in Yemen. Social and Medical Observations. Ann Intern Med. 1976; 85:246–9.
[7]	Varisco DM. On the meaning of chewing: the significance of Khat (Catha edulis) in the Yemen Arab Republic. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 1986; 18:1-13.
[8]	Alem A, Kebede D, Kullgren G. The prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of Khat chewing in Butajira, Ethiopia. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl. 1999; 397:84-91.
[9]	Kebede Y. Cigarette smoking and Khat chewing among college students, North West Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Dev. 2002; 16:9-17.
[10]	Kebede, A. Alem, G. Mitike et al., “Khat and alcohol use and risky sex behavior among in-school and out-of-school youth in Ethiopia,” BMC Public Health, vol. 5, article no. 109, 2005.
[11]	Mulugeta, “Khat chewing and its associated factor among college students in Bahir Dar Town, Ethiopia,” Science Journal of Public Health, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 209–214, 2013.
[12]	Weir, Qat in Yemen: Consumption and Social Changes, 1985.
[13]	Damena, A. Mossie, and M. Tesfaye, “Khat chewing and mental distress: a Community based study, in Jimma, Southwestern Ethiopia,” Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 37-45, 2011.
[14]	Borelli, “Social aspects of drug use in Djibouti: the case of the leaf of Allah,” Journal of African Economies, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 555–591, 2009.
[15]	Central Statistical Agency, Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2011, Central Statistical Agency, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; E.I.I.C., Calverton, Md, USA, 2012
[16]	Getahun W, Gedif T, Tesfaye F (2010) Regular khat chewing is associated with elevated diastolic blood pressure among adults in butajira, Ethiopia: a comparative study. BMC public health 10: 390.
[17]	Ali WM, Zubaid M, Al-Motarreb A, Singh R, Al-Shereiqi SZ (2010) Association of khat chewing with increased risk of stroke and death with ACS. Mayo Clin Proc 85(11): 974-980.
[18]	Jennifer W (2011) Chewing khat linked to stroke and death. Journal of the American Heart association.
[19]	Gelaw and Haile-Amlak, “Khat chewing and its socio-demographic correlates among the staff of Jimma University,” Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 179–184, 2004.

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Muluneh Bekele Etana. (2018). Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, 3(2), 29-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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ACS Style

Muluneh Bekele Etana. Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomed. Stat. Inform. 2018, 3(2), 29-33. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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AMA Style

Muluneh Bekele Etana. Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomed Stat Inform. 2018;3(2):29-33. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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@article{10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14,
  author = {Muluneh Bekele Etana},
  title = {Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia},
  journal = {Biomedical Statistics and Informatics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {2},
  pages = {29-33},
  doi = {10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bsi.20180302.14},
  abstract = {Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. The leaf of Khat comes from a small evergreen shrub that can grow to the size of a tree. Both young buds and tender leaves are chewed to attain a state of euphoria and stimulation. Khat leaves contain Cathinone which it’s an active brain stimulant and Khat ingestion in low doses results in decreased appetite, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and hyper-alertness.High doses and chronic use of Khat can cause more serious adverse neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dental, gastrointestinal and genitourinary effects. Besides damaging health, Khat chewing has adverse socio-economic consequences effects on many other aspects of life. It has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. This study was conducted from September to June 2017 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 samples were included in the study. Structured questionnaire were employed during data collection with the main objectives of to assess the socio-economic effects of Khat chewing among youth of Sebeta town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The studies revealed that Khat chewing was associated with carelessness, frequent absenteeism from working place, poor academic performance of chewer students, poor interaction with the societies, depression and anxiety, poor confidence, exposed for economic problem, health problems, conflict in the family. Generally,the current Khat chewing practices in the study area are relatively high. So efforts like creating awareness about negative effects, making different recreation methods available, addressing the underlying social problems of unemployment, poor housing, and cultural alienation and promote positive measures for community development and develop a health education program to raise awareness and formulating common conventions regarding Khat use mainly by young generations are necessary to decrease the magnitude of chewing practices and thereby its associated consequences.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia
AU  - Muluneh Bekele Etana
Y1  - 2018/08/16
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
T2  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
JF  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
JO  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
SP  - 29
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8728
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
AB  - Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. The leaf of Khat comes from a small evergreen shrub that can grow to the size of a tree. Both young buds and tender leaves are chewed to attain a state of euphoria and stimulation. Khat leaves contain Cathinone which it’s an active brain stimulant and Khat ingestion in low doses results in decreased appetite, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and hyper-alertness.High doses and chronic use of Khat can cause more serious adverse neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dental, gastrointestinal and genitourinary effects. Besides damaging health, Khat chewing has adverse socio-economic consequences effects on many other aspects of life. It has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. This study was conducted from September to June 2017 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 samples were included in the study. Structured questionnaire were employed during data collection with the main objectives of to assess the socio-economic effects of Khat chewing among youth of Sebeta town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The studies revealed that Khat chewing was associated with carelessness, frequent absenteeism from working place, poor academic performance of chewer students, poor interaction with the societies, depression and anxiety, poor confidence, exposed for economic problem, health problems, conflict in the family. Generally,the current Khat chewing practices in the study area are relatively high. So efforts like creating awareness about negative effects, making different recreation methods available, addressing the underlying social problems of unemployment, poor housing, and cultural alienation and promote positive measures for community development and develop a health education program to raise awareness and formulating common conventions regarding Khat use mainly by young generations are necessary to decrease the magnitude of chewing practices and thereby its associated consequences.
VL  - 3
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Author Information

Muluneh Bekele Etana

Department of Horticulture, College of Dry-Land Agriculture, Samara University, Afar, Ethiopia

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APA Style

Muluneh Bekele Etana. (2018). Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, 3(2), 29-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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ACS Style

Muluneh Bekele Etana. Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomed. Stat. Inform. 2018, 3(2), 29-33. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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AMA Style

Muluneh Bekele Etana. Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia. Biomed Stat Inform. 2018;3(2):29-33. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14

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@article{10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14,
  author = {Muluneh Bekele Etana},
  title = {Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia},
  journal = {Biomedical Statistics and Informatics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {2},
  pages = {29-33},
  doi = {10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bsi.20180302.14},
  abstract = {Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. The leaf of Khat comes from a small evergreen shrub that can grow to the size of a tree. Both young buds and tender leaves are chewed to attain a state of euphoria and stimulation. Khat leaves contain Cathinone which it’s an active brain stimulant and Khat ingestion in low doses results in decreased appetite, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and hyper-alertness.High doses and chronic use of Khat can cause more serious adverse neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dental, gastrointestinal and genitourinary effects. Besides damaging health, Khat chewing has adverse socio-economic consequences effects on many other aspects of life. It has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. This study was conducted from September to June 2017 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 samples were included in the study. Structured questionnaire were employed during data collection with the main objectives of to assess the socio-economic effects of Khat chewing among youth of Sebeta town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The studies revealed that Khat chewing was associated with carelessness, frequent absenteeism from working place, poor academic performance of chewer students, poor interaction with the societies, depression and anxiety, poor confidence, exposed for economic problem, health problems, conflict in the family. Generally,the current Khat chewing practices in the study area are relatively high. So efforts like creating awareness about negative effects, making different recreation methods available, addressing the underlying social problems of unemployment, poor housing, and cultural alienation and promote positive measures for community development and develop a health education program to raise awareness and formulating common conventions regarding Khat use mainly by young generations are necessary to decrease the magnitude of chewing practices and thereby its associated consequences.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Economic and Social Impacts of Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) Chewing Among Youth in Sebeta Town, Oromia Ethiopia
AU  - Muluneh Bekele Etana
Y1  - 2018/08/16
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
T2  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
JF  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
JO  - Biomedical Statistics and Informatics
SP  - 29
EP  - 33
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8728
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.14
AB  - Khat (Catha edulis Forsk) is a large green shrub grown in Eastern to Southern Africa and extends to Arabian Peninsula. The leaf of Khat comes from a small evergreen shrub that can grow to the size of a tree. Both young buds and tender leaves are chewed to attain a state of euphoria and stimulation. Khat leaves contain Cathinone which it’s an active brain stimulant and Khat ingestion in low doses results in decreased appetite, euphoria, increased intellectual efficiency, and hyper-alertness.High doses and chronic use of Khat can cause more serious adverse neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, dental, gastrointestinal and genitourinary effects. Besides damaging health, Khat chewing has adverse socio-economic consequences effects on many other aspects of life. It has its own impact on mental and physical health of the chewers. This study was conducted from September to June 2017 using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A total of 250 samples were included in the study. Structured questionnaire were employed during data collection with the main objectives of to assess the socio-economic effects of Khat chewing among youth of Sebeta town, Oromia, Ethiopia. The studies revealed that Khat chewing was associated with carelessness, frequent absenteeism from working place, poor academic performance of chewer students, poor interaction with the societies, depression and anxiety, poor confidence, exposed for economic problem, health problems, conflict in the family. Generally,the current Khat chewing practices in the study area are relatively high. So efforts like creating awareness about negative effects, making different recreation methods available, addressing the underlying social problems of unemployment, poor housing, and cultural alienation and promote positive measures for community development and develop a health education program to raise awareness and formulating common conventions regarding Khat use mainly by young generations are necessary to decrease the magnitude of chewing practices and thereby its associated consequences.
VL  - 3
IS  - 2
ER  -

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