Young poor women 'more likely to smoke'

There has been a massive increase in the number of young girls from low-income backgrounds taking up smoking, it was warned today.

The Irish Cancer Society (ICS) said the highest smoking rates were among younger people and in lower socio-economic groups in Ireland.

Norma Cronin, the society’s health promotion manager, said the self-esteem of women from less well off areas must be boosted to help them give up cigarettes.

Ms Cronin said: “Tobacco therefore cannot be treated in isolation from social context and lifestyle issues.

“Building self-esteem of women from low income backgrounds is crucial. In order to encourage smoking cessation, support is required for other areas of life, such as lifestyle issues, medical and social issues, childcare techniques and helping low income women to break down barriers to access smoking cessation services.”

The latest statistics show about 48% of 18 to 34-year-old female smokers are from less well off backgrounds, with only primary or some secondary school education.

At the conference to mark World No Tobacco Day, the society highlighted that smoking among young girls had increased drastically around the globe, particularly in developing countries.

Professor Robert West of the health behaviour unit at University College London told the meeting: “Women report more smoking for stress and weight control than men. In particular lone mothers report low self-esteem as a key factor for taking up smoking and say that smoking gives them a way to take a break and have some time for themselves.”

At the Dublin-based conference on the Role of Health Professionals in Tobacco Control, he warned: “Overall therefore the smoker’s environment is crucial and if there is a high level of use in the social environment and absence of alternative rewards, then smoking levels soar.”

Ms Cronin told the 160 health care professionals from around the country that workers could be trained in smoking cessation techniques to offer one-to-one support, drop-in clinics and community events.

The society said the Health Services Executive in the North East has already begun offering these services in six housing estates in less well off areas, where smoking rates are above the national average.

The latest figures from the National Cancer Registry show there were 1,618 cases of lung cancer in Ireland in 2000.

The society has pledged to continue its anti-tobacco measures with 95% of lung cancer cases caused by smoking.

Ms Cronin said smoking was one of the largest preventable causes of cancer and premature death in the world, with around 30% of all cancer deaths in high-income countries due to tobacco.

There are around 1.3 billion smokers in the world with tobacco addiction claiming around 4.9 million lives a year.

It is estimated that halving tobacco consumption now could save about 170 million lives by 2050.