6/2(토)-Harder for Women to Maintain No-Smoking

[sugarpowder]

6/2(토)- Harder for Women to Maintain No-Smoking Her ``grand failure,'' she said, happened at a beer bar near her company in Yoksam-dong, Seoul, where she attended a party that was arranged by her boss to celebrate the end of a month-long, tiresome project. After several shots of draft beer, she could not control herself and was coaxed to smoke again. ``I wonder whether I can stop smoking again,'' Lee said at a bench in front of her company during a recent interview with The Korea Times. ``It was the longest time stopped. I am at a loss.'' She lit up another cigarette, saying that ``this is my final one before noon.'' It was 11:30 a.m., though. Lee, who began smoking when she entered university in 1992, is now smoking more than a pack of cigarettes per day. Smoking is forbidden where she works which means she must get out of the building whenever she wants to smoke. Toilets or the emergency staircase are no longer options because her boss warned staff last year that the company would impose a 50,000 won ($50) fine on those caught smoking inside the building. ``It seems like smokers are literally ostracized these day,'' she said. ``Yes, smokers' rights to light up are largely ignored. That was one of reasons why I decided to stop.'' Nobody claims smoking is good for health. This fact leads many smokers to try to quit smoking. But they usually get caught in the ``vicious circle'' of withdrawal syndromes followed by a return to the dangerous habit. It is not scientifically clear why, but girls are having much more trouble quitting, according to a study in April. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in Seoul said only 6 percent of 7,225 women participating in a no-smoking campaign in 2005, succeeded in not smoking for more than 100 days, much less than the 15.4 percent of 64,479 men who did. The institute found the results by studying 71,704 people who participated in a no-smoking guide program at http://nosmokeguide.hp.go.kr that is designed to show how many days longer people can live more by calculating the number of days the subscribers did not smoke. According to the program, 6,309 men (9.8 percent) said they stopped smoking for one month, while only 305 women (4.2 percent) kept it up for the same time. In addition, 2,289 men (3.5 percent) quit smoking for one year, while only 95 women (1.3 percent) did so. Lee said she cannot figure out why it is more difficult for women to quit smoking. But she guessed that it might be due to the fact weight is often gained, 5 kilograms in her case, during the transition to non-smoking. Weight control is one of the biggest factors that induce girls to smoke, according to a BBC Health article that was medically reviewed by experts. It said nicotine takes the edge off appetite and smoking a cigarette is a diverting behavior! that helps you avoid eating. But the article said the initial craving will pass, asking smokers to keep this in mind as they battle to control the desire to snack. It also advised people to stock up on healthy, low-calorie snacks and drinks, and to ensure that they eat three regular healthy meals a day. Lee said, ``Oh yeh? Do you think I failed to stop smoking because I didn't know that?'' This rebuttal apparently indicates that she already knows what is necessary in the war against  smoking is nothing but her own determination. And the reasons for smoking? 31.4 percent of men said they light up to mitigate stress, 28.5 percent, from sheer habit and 24.1 percent because of addiction. Meanwhile, 33.4 percent of women chose habitual practice as the biggest reason, followed by 26.9 percent for stress. 1-1. What do you thing about smoking woman? And why do you tnink so? 1-2. Many people feel displeasure when they see woman smoking on the street,      of course mos of them feel same from man but less tnan woman.      do you think it's discrimination? 2. If you know that your children in the future smoke, what would you like to do? 3. You may have smoking friends around you. What if one of them wanna quit smoking    and he/she needs help from you.   What kind of suggestion will you give? Do you think it's effective?