4 - Wilmington Town Crier - Wilmington Memorial Library

PAGE S-6-WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10.11,1997
Do women smoke to stay thin?
Some women smoke ciga-
rettes in the belief that it is a
way to control weight or pro-
mote weight loss, a concept that
may explain why women may
not kick the habit as quickly as
men.
"Early studies focused on the
adverse effects of tobacco smok-
ing on men, so we don't have all
the research we need about
smoking among females," says
Mary Hayes, DDS, a pediatric
dentist who practices in
Chicago. "For example, we don't
know all the reasons women
smoke or the total extent of
damage tobacco causes women,
even though we know lung can-
cer is the leading cause of can-
cer for women, exceeding breast
cancer. We do know that expo-
sure to smoking begins very
early, and prevention programs
need to start no later than the
second or third grade level."
Ninety percent of all smokers
begin smoking before age 18, but
the average age for a young girl
to start smoking is 14. According
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to the Monitoring the Future
Study conducted at the Univer-
sity of Michigan, approximately
33 percent of female twelfth
graders said they smoked a cig-
arette within 30 days prior to the
study.
"Because females start smok-
ing at an earlier age, they prob-
ably find it harder to kick the
habit," says Dr. Hayes. "Plus
some will continue to believe
that smoking assists them in
controlling their weight."
However, Dr. Hayes cautions,
there currently is no evidence to
demonstrate that smoking ciga-
rettes or cigars is effective a
suppressing appetite.
"Even if research conducted
in the future determines that
smoking cigarettes can suppress
appetite, there still are too many
health reasons to not smoke,"
says Dr Hayes. "Cigarettes
clearly are linked to an
increased risk for emphysema,
stroke, heart attacks and lung
disease.
"They cause cancers of the
mouth, larynx, esophagus and
lungs Plus there's the whole
issue of second-hand smoke.
The Chicago Dental Society
strongly supports the regula-
tions adopted by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration to reg-
ulate tobacco products, catego-
rize nicotine as a drug, and
restrict access to tobacco prod-
ucts by children.
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