Fewer women smoke than men, but that's little comfort for the percentage of women who do smoke.
Women tend to start smoking for different reasons than men, and then continue smoking for those same reasons.
More women smoke to fit in than men do; the average age of young
girls who start smoking is 13. They also smoke to lose weight, or keep weight off. Some women
smoke to take care of their nervousness or depression. And many women smoke because they see
other famous women, models, actresses and singers, who smoke and look fabulous, and feel that
if they follow that model the same will happen for them.
Pregnant women who smoke are at worse risk of injuring not only their bodies, but the immune
systems of the babies they're carrying. A woman's immune system isn't as strong when she's
pregnant as it is when she's not, which means the effects of even moderate smoking will impact
her more during this time. Nicotine also ends up following along the umbilical cord into the
baby during this time. This ends up causing all sorts of problems for both the mother and
baby at birth. Studies have also shown that if mothers smoke during pregnancy, their children
have a greater tendency to want to smoke, and it's harder for them to stop smoking once they start.
Here are a few statistics on women and smoking:
- 23% of all women in the United States smoke; in Spain, that figure is 24%
- 28% of those women are between the ages of 25 and 44
- as of 1986, more women started dying of lung cancer than of breast cancer
- In Indonesia, more high income women smoke than lower income women at a ratio of 2 to 1
- In developing countries, only 8% of women smoke
In a 1994 study, it was shown that women react differently to nicotine than men, using
descriptions such as "dizzy", "stimulated", "jittery" and "head rush" in describing their
feelings of an increased dose of nicotine, something none of the men stated. In a 1996
study, it was said that women seem to smoke for more often for reasons not associated
with the effects of nicotine.
This would seem to indicate that women should have an easier time of quitting smoking, but
that hasn't been the case. Nicotine replacements such as gums and patches don't work as well
on women as they do men. Light activity or exercise doesn't seem to have the same beneficial
effects on women trying to quit as it does men, which means their physical activity needs to be
more involved. Also, nicotine seems to age women quicker than it does men, and even though
women are concerned more about their appearance than men, this fact doesn't seem to encourage
them to reduce cigarette consumption.
Overall, women seem to smoke more because of their own emotions than those induced by nicotine.
Women smoke as a way to reduce negative emotions, as well as to keep their weight down, as
smoking does seem to give women more energy, which takes away from their being hungry as often as men.
Still, it's important for women to find ways to stop smoking to prevent long term health
problems from taking over. Dealing with depression and anxieties in other ways must be
found, which may include counseling. Getting on better diet plans and eating properly
could help. And, studies have found that the weight women do gain once they stop smoking
usually is weight many of them should have had, so the gain is negligible.
Ladies, there's no valid excuse not to stop smoking; just do it.
