why consumption is increasing among women and the least educated

by time news

► What are the numbers?

Tobacco kills nearly 75,000 people a year, making it the leading cause of preventable death in France. And for a few more years. Because, after experiencing a decline of one “unprecedented scale” between 2014 and 2019 among adults, and stagnation in 2020, smoking started to increase again in 2021, according to a study by Public Health France, published on Tuesday, December 13.

Last year, in mainland France, more than three out of ten people between the ages of 18 and 75 said they smoked, a quarter of them daily. A rebound, compared to 2019 figures, too “surprising than worrying” for Bernard Basset, doctor specializing in public health and president of the Association addictions France, who recalls that tobacco is a factor of “risks of cancer, respiratory failure or cardiovascular accidents”.

At the heart of the concerns: women and people with no diploma or a diploma below the baccalaureate. These two categories are the only ones where daily smoking increased last year. From 20.7% in 2019, it reached 23% in 2021 among women, and rose from 29% to 32% for the least qualified.

► Why did these populations turn to tobacco?

Different hypotheses are put forward by Public Health France, all linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. For women, the consequences of this health and social crisis would be stronger. A previous survey “showed that they lost their jobs more often” and experienced greater “degradation of their working conditions”, advances the study of Public Health France. This reinforced mental load would have favored the consumption of tobacco among women, the substance being perceived as a tranquilizer, capable of calming tensions and worries.

Insufficient explanations for Bernard Basset. The specialist sees in these figures “a surely more complex mechanism”. “There is perhaps, here again, a demonstration of freedom on the part of women, as it was when they started smoking in the middle of the 20th century “, supposes the addictologist Stéphanie Ladel.

The psychological, economic and social consequences of the health crisis, “more pronounced in disadvantaged populations “, would also explain the increase in smoking among people with little or no qualifications, according to Public Health France. “They implicated additional sources of stress and anxiety, causing these people to turn to cigarettes more easily”develops Viêt Nguyen Thanh, head of the addictions unit of Public Health France.

► What can be the solutions?

The price of a pack of cigarettes already exceeds ten euros. A high amount, but still insufficient to deter smokers. To avoid a further increase in smoking, daily or otherwise, “a coherent public policy must continue to be put in placeaffirme Viet Nguyen Thanh. It must link an increase in the price of the package, significant stoppage aid and enhanced support for disadvantaged populations. » Measures to which must be added a broader prevention of the dangers of tobacco, “in companies but also from college or high school”completes Stéphanie Ladel.

For several years, smoking has been declining among adolescents. A downward trend that gives hope “within ten or fifteen years”according to the addictologist, that consumption becomes more “marginal”. The authorities are giving themselves until 2032 to reach a “tobacco-free generation”.

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