Smoking : The Danger Zone

Rewind back by a decade – women were the custodians of moral values and the domestic world. Coming back to 2008 – the modern woman is not only at par with her male counterparts at the professional level, but the tobacco intake level as well.

One in ten women smoke or consume tobacco, as reported by WHO( world health organization), on the basis of a study. There is a steep hike of 10 per cent in the last decade. Earlier, a woman would be looked down upon if she “fagged” but today, this ups ones “cool quotient” and helps one to climb the stairs to popularity.

Smoking was considered a taboo, but now the fairer sex is frequently afflicted by tobacco related disease and a research shows that consumption of tobacco proves to be more fatal to women than men. Lung cancer has surpassed all kinds of diseases as the cause of death in women since 1989.

The mindset of the girls has reformed enormously. Be it a college or an office, boys and girls mingle during smokes at breaks. Many womenfolk do it to maintain their weight while others blame it on the stress factor. Some even do it to get a sense of sophistication and glamour. Teenagers lay a lot of stress on their looks and gaining slight weight too hampers their appearance, so they prefer smoking to being overweight. I guess the Gen-X fails to understand that more than the outer appearance, having a smart and confident personality is more essential.

Pregnant women who smoke have often been diagnosed with pregnancy complications and they give birth to premature babies too. In extreme cases, smoking can also lead to infant death. The only way to prevent the fetus from being damaged is to quit smoking. The women must realize their duty towards their own yet-to-be-born child and the future generation of India.

Several steps have been taken by the government but it seems the public is not a willing participant in those endeavours. Clearly, it will take ages for them to be able to flick the ash.

Geetika Sachdev

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