At current era of globalization, media is the double edged sword that is important both for health
education as well as the stimulation of unhealthy behaviour. In Nepal, though there is ban on most
forms of advertising, it is not clear about placement of tobacco advertisement in TV, films and
other forms of media. Studies about cigarette smoking and its association with media are inadequate
in Nepal. The objective of this study was to explore the role of media in cigarette smoking
habit of adolescents in Nepal. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 394 adolescent students
by using questionnaire method in 3 randomly selected colleges of Kathmandu district, Nepal.
Data were analysed by using bivariate and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Statistically
significant relationship at 95% CI was found between cigarette smoking status and media related
variables like: seeing cigarette advertisement, reading fashion magazine, attending musical program
sponsored by cigarette companies, watching movies in cinema hall, liking heavy metal/hard
rock music, television watching time and desire to smoke if favourite artist smokes. Multinomial
logistic regression showed that those with high receptivity to cigarette advertisement were likely
to be current smokers (OR = 71.416, CI: 8.796 - 579.823) and ever smokers (OR = 9.582, CI: 2.201 -
41.714) compared to never smokers. About 79% of respondents agreed that media teaches different
ways of smoking to its audiences. Different forms of media including cinema, music, magazines,
television, games and music sponsorship are found to be important predictors for smoking
status of college students in urban Nepal. Thus smoking prevention activities should consider role
of media in smoking provocation among adolescents.