An online survey of about 200 local female smokers found the main trigger for them to light up was to ease work pressure, although all smokers were aware of the harm.

Up to 82 percent of the survey's respondents said cigarettes have become part of their life.

Women between 21 and 30 years old account for nearly 87 percent of the female smokers in the city, where the proportion of women smokers has risen in recent years.

The survey conducted by MyTianHui.com, a Shanghai-based research provider, was to study female smokers' habits and their plans to give up.

According to Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of local woman smokers has risen significantly over the past six years. About five percent of local women smoked in 2000, and that number has risen to nine percent at present, according to the center.

According to the MyTianHui.com survey, the main reasons for women to smoke are strong work pressure and peer influence. Some women light up out of curiosity and in social situations. About 16 percent said smoking made them feel more mature and attractive.

They consumed an average of 11 or 12 cigarettes a day, with 21 percent smoking 20 or more a day and eight percent smoking 40 or more.

However, 92 percent said they planned to quit or control their smoking.

Sixty percent said they will smoke less in future, and 32 percent want to quit. Only eight percent didn't want to take any action.

Eighty-two percent said they will depend on their own perseverance to fight against smoking, while the rest plan to get help from hospitals or professionals, and some will buy anti-smoking products.

Research released last year found that female smokers are three times more likely to contract lung cancer as men who smoke the same amount.

Dr Liao Meilin from Shanghai Chest Hospital studied 20,000 women in Shanghai for two years, tracking their lifestyle and smoking habits, while tracking a control group of local men.

The incidence of lung cancer is growing much quicker in local women than men, with 16 of every 100,000 women in the city developing lung cancer, and with the highest incidence and death rate of any form of cancer. About 80 percent of male patients and 75 percent of female lung cancer patients are smokers, experts said.

(Shanghai Daily August 27, 2007)