Smoking in Milton: Factors Associated With Smoking in an Adult Community

Abstract

The factors associated with smoking in 80 per cent of an entire adult New Zealand community have been studied on two occasions exactly three years apart and compared with other studies. The smoking habits of a population are dynamic and there is today a very much higher proportion of young adult smokers, particularly women, than there was 15 years ago and this p r o p o r t i o n i s i n c r e a s i n g . C i g a r e t t e consumption is associated with the father's smoking habit in the case of men and the mother's habit in the case of women; early school leaving age; being a member of a large family; being of lower socio-economic level; the taking of oral contraceptives or any minor tranquilliser in the case of women; considerably greater alcohol consumption, especially beer, by either sex; preference for a brand of cigarette with a higher tar and nicotine content; and a tendency to inhale the smoke deeply. However it is shown that most if not all of these factors are interactive and not simple cause-and-effect relationships. Light smokers smoke proportionately much more at weekends than do heavy smokers and this is not directly attributable to varying opportunities to smoke during the week. Weight increases markedly when smoking stops and this is not due to a compensatory increase in alcohol intake. It is suggested that obesity, excess beer drinking, heavy smoking and anxiety may all be part of an identifiable tetrad of symptoms.