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)