Areca (betel) nut chewing habit among high-school children in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Micronesia).

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of its use by high-school children in Saipan in Micronesia. Usage of the areca nut is indigenous to south Asia and the western and south Pacific. Some serious health effects of areca nut chewing are recognized and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently classified regular use of areca nut as being carcinogenic to humans.