Findings of a sample study that appeared in the journal Social Science & Medicine reveals a new trend in smoking. Researchers of the study have found that women who migrate to the US, especially Latin American and Asian women, tend to smoke more than men who migrate.
For the study, researchers analysed smoking behaviour in 3,249 Asian and Latino migrant adults that were a part of the 2002-2003 National Latino and Asian American Study. Results noted that men who migrated continued to surpass women, both in terms of prevalence and frequency of smoking. Smoking prevalence among Asian immigrant men was more than four times that of Asian immigrant women (30.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively).
Among Latino immigrants, men’s smoking prevalence was more than twice that of women’s (29.5 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively). What made things even worse was the finding that smoking increases with duration of US residence among Asian immigrants (both prevalence and frequency) and among Latino immigrants (frequency only). However, the study also found that independent of time spent in the US, immigrants who form strong connections to the US through English-language proficiency and citizenship acquisition benefit in terms of reduced smoking.
According to lead researcher Bridget Gorman, a professor of sociology at Rice University in the US, women’s smoking behaviour increased more after migration to the US than men. This rise in smoking could be attributed to the differences in smoking stigma that exist for women in Latin America and especially Asia.
Source: IANS
Photo source: Getty images
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