Facts: factors influencing tobacco use
Mental illness:
Having a mental health diagnosis is a risk factor for smoking. For example, 50 percent of those with clinical depression smoke, and 70 percent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Among young people, there is a clear link between psychosomatic disorders and smoking, and especially among girls. In a study by CAN, 7 percent of girls without mental illness reported that they had smoked in the past year, while 41 percent of girls with mental illness had done so.
Another group at greater risk of using tobacco are people who experience a lot of stress and pressure in life in general. When life is heavy, a smoking break can feel like the only chance for relaxation and this makes it more difficult to become smoke-free.
Abuse:
People with addictions also smoke to a greater extent. 80 percent of those with opiate addiction (heroin, etc.) and 70 percent of those with alcohol addiction are smokers.
Where you were born:
A survey in Stockholm found that 16-19 percent of men born outside the Nordic countries smoke, compared with 7 percent of men born in Sweden. For women born in Europe, but outside the Nordic countries, the pattern is the same. 17 percent smoke, compared with 7 percent for those born in Sweden. The smoking rate among those born abroad is a reflection of how many people smoke in their home countries.
Training:
The same survey showed that 21 percent of men with a short education smoked daily compared to 6 percent among university graduates, and there are also large differences when it comes to women.
Women are hit harder than men:
Women are more severely affected by the negative health effects associated with smoking than men, due to the fact that women's lungs are approximately 20 percent smaller than men's.
Women and men smoke for different reasons. Research shows that women and girls tend to smoke as a way to deal with negative emotions, while men and boys smoke to a greater extent to intensify positive emotions.
You can find a text with a more gender perspective on tobacco use on this page.
The gender perspective: women are hit harder by the consequences of tobacco use
Globally, an estimated four times more men than women still use tobacco. In many cultures, tobacco fulfills a traditional function for men, and is deeply rooted as a natural part of men's social relationships.
But as gender norms loosen and women become more independent, more women are starting to smoke. In general, in the rich world, girls now smoke about as many as boys. In low- and middle-income countries, the trend is clear: more girls and women are starting to smoke.
Facts
Human behavior does not occur in a vacuum, but is always related to the norms and values of the surrounding culture. This of course also applies to tobacco use.
It is important to include perspectives of both sex and gender in tobacco prevention work. A common mistake is that many people think that gender = women. The gender aspect is about the learned behaviors of both sexes based on norms, gender roles and culture.
The gender aspect refers to the fact that the health effects of tobacco use may differ between women and men – purely biologically.
Women and men smoke for different reasons
Facts
Human behavior does not occur in a vacuum, but is always related to the norms and values of the surrounding culture. This of course also applies to tobacco use.
It is important to include perspectives of both sex and gender in tobacco prevention work. A common mistake is that many people think that gender = women. The gender aspect is about the learned behaviors of both sexes based on norms, gender roles and culture.
The gender aspect refers to the fact that the health effects of tobacco use may differ between women and men – purely biologically.
A study in the US showed that girls who smoke were much more likely than boys to experience mental illness or domestic violence. In general, mental illness is strongly associated with smoking, and more women than men suffer from conditions such as depression.
Research shows that women and girls tend to smoke as a way to cope with negative emotions, while men and boys smoke to a greater extent to intensify positive emotions.
Studies also show that girls and women smoke to a greater extent than boys and men as a way to control their weight.
Women are hit harder by the social and economic consequences of tobacco consumption
Tobacco use has enormous social costs. A large proportion of health care resources go to tobacco-related deaths, and studies have shown that this prioritization has often come at the expense of resources for primary care interventions for women and children.
Women often have lower incomes than men, and also spend more of their income on children than men do. In a global perspective, it is mostly men who smoke, and for families living in poverty this can mean that resources that should be spent on food and children's education are instead spent on tobacco.
In low-income countries, many women and children are left destitute when their husbands become ill as a result of smoking, and the family's income is forced to go to medical care, and in the worst case, when the husbands die and leave the family without an income.
What should be done?
Data collection in tobacco use research should be more broadly disaggregated by gender and age, making it possible to identify how trends and health effects differ between men and women and at different ages.
More qualitative sociological research on tobacco use from a gender perspective would contribute to important data for adapting national guidelines within public health policy and tobacco prevention work.
Source: WHO
