Dried tobacco leaves are the raw material used in manufacturing cigars, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco. Not only do these products contain dried tobacco leaves, but also other ingredients such as added flavors. Studies indicate that tobacco smoke has more than 7,000 various chemicals some of which are carcinogenic. Carcinogens are substances that are believed to cause cancer in humans. Cigarette’s smoke has been found to contain carbon monoxide, tar, and ammonia. There is no documented side-effect of the prior compounds on human health.
There has been a change in the tobacco smoking trend In Australia. The number of people who smoke tobacco has decreased tremendously over the decades. Studies attribute this change mainly to the government’s regulations on smoking. Australia’s government regulation on tobacco smoking includes an increase in tobacco taxes, smoke-free environment regulation, public education on the dangers of tobacco smoking through media campaigns, and a ban on tobacco advertisement (Scollo 2008).
In Australia, males and females generally start smoking in early adolescence. Among young Australians, the mean age of tobacco smoking initiation is 14.5 years for males and 14.2 years for females. The mean age for initiating daily smoking is higher, at 16 years for males and 15.5 for females. There is a significant increase in smoking prevalence corresponding to each yearly increase in age during adolescence.
This increase is particularly sharp between the ages of 13 and 14 years, where the proportion of secondary school students who smoke almost doubles, from seven percent to 13 percent. Statistics show that tobacco smoking prevalence increases towards young adulthood. There are also some gender differences in tobacco smoking prevalence. Although the rate of smoking is similar for males and females, tobacco smoking becomes more prevalent in 14 years females or those who are older.
Tobacco smoking prevalence among young people appears to be similar in rural and regional areas. A study done in Western Australia found more positive attitudes toward smoking. Also, it indicated that there were no differences in smoking prevalence between metropolitan and rural people, although urban females were more likely to smoke at least three times a week as compared to those in rural areas (Centre for Epidemiology and Research 2010). Two decades ago, out of all tobacco smokers in Australia, 72 percent were men while 28 percent were women, but of late the rate has been declined. In 2011, 13.8 percent of Australian males aged sixteen years and above were daily smokers as compared to 9.8 percent females.
There is evidence of decreasing smoking prevalence among Australians over the past few years, despite an increase in use by young people. In every age group, tobacco smoking among indigenous Australians is higher than the non-indigenous communities. The smoking rate by aboriginal Australians was at 47.7 percent in 2011. In addition, tobacco smoking is higher in men and women who work as manual laborers than professionals and office workers. Studies show that illiterate people and low-income earners are likely to smoke more as compared to literate and high-income earners.
Tobacco smoking in Australia is influenced by various factors. Socio-demographic is one of the factors which influence tobacco smoking in Australia. The likelihood of a young person smoking increases with age. The younger an adolescent begins smoking, the more likely he or she is to become a regular smoker and less likely to quit smoking compared to an adolescent who begins smoking tobacco later in life. Studies indicate that tobacco smoking is approximately equal for males and females in younger years of secondary school, but that tobacco smoking appears to be more common among females than males by middle-high school years.
There is evidence of gender differences in risk and protective factors. It has been suggested that females are influenced more by external or social factors (such as peer and parent influences) and males by internal factors (such as behavioral problems). Additionally, studies show that ethnicity influences smoking. Adolescents from families with two parents are at decreased risk of smoking. Also, it has been generally established that the more spending money an adolescent has, the more likely he or she is to smoke tobacco (Freeman, Chapman & Rimmer 2007).
Environmental factors contribute to tobacco smoking. Parental smoking provides a means by which adolescents may perceive smoking in a positive context; the modeling of acceptable and beneficial behavior. Smoking by an older sibling has repeatedly been shown to be predictive of adolescent smoking. There is a relationship between parental attitudes towards smoking and adolescent smoking. Adolescents’ perception of their parents’ negative attitudes to smoking can have a strong protective effect.
An authoritative parenting style is strongly associated with lower levels of smoking (Winstanley 2008). Authoritative parenting is defined as a style that combines strictness and warmth or is demanding yet responsive. A poor mother-child relationship has been associated with higher levels of smoking for boys and girls. A poor father-child relationship has been found to influence smoking for girls only (Fleming & Parker 2012).
Most studies find smoking by peers to be one of the tobacco smoking risky factors, particularly concerning trialing smoking. There is also substantial evidence to suggest that peer smoking is more influential than parental smoking on adolescents. Peer attitude and norms influence smoking. The perception that smoking is normative among peers has been found to increase the risk of smoking. Unsurprisingly, those that report cigarettes as being easier to obtain are more likely to have smoked.
The availability of cigarettes increases the prevalence of smoking. Several issues determine the perceived accessibility of cigarettes, including the prevalence of smoking, school smoking policies, and wider community or legislative restrictions to tobacco accessibility and promotion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011, p. 1517). Certain elements of the environment have been associated with smoking. People are at greater risk if they perceive their environment to have a large proportion of smokers.
Behavioral factors influence tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoking initiation has been repeatedly linked to poor performance. Studies on tobacco smoking onset demonstrated a relationship between smoking and low living standards. Tobacco smoking is part of a larger suite of problem-prone behaviors that tend to be highly correlated (Clough et al. 2009). These behaviors encompass involvement in violent behaviors and delinquent behavior, a history of trouble with the police, poor conduct at school, and risk-taking behaviors such as involvement in sexual activity and use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Social deviance and positive attitudes towards deviance have also been related to smoking as has an association with a delinquent friend (Tobacco Working Group 2008).
Personal factors influence smoking. Studies suggest that genetic factors or prenatal exposure to tobacco may work to influence child sensation-seeking or decrease impulse control which may, in turn, increase the likelihood of children being exposed to triggering events or developing dependence. There is evidence to suggest that certain characteristics of the first smoking experience itself influence whether young smokers subsequently continue smoking. Smoking is associated with more reports of individuals feeling high and fewer reports of their feeling sick after their first cigarette. Having more positive attitudes towards smoking and towards smokers has been repeatedly related to an increased risk of smoking.
People reporting high levels of stress are more likely to smoke and stress has been implicated as a factor in tobacco smoking initiation and maintenance. Poor coping skills have been associated with a higher risk of smoking (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2007). Problem-solving is found to be higher in those people who have never smoked, whereas drug use and ventilation of feelings are more likely to be used as coping strategies in those people who have never smoked.
Knowledge is not enough to quit tobacco smoking by the addicted smokers. Being addicted is mentioned as a reason for keeping people smoking, despite knowing smoking effects. Furthermore, smokers who are addicted to nicotine, report that they had not expected to become so when they had started smoking. Smokers describe addiction as feelings of dependency, behavioral and emotional manifestations of withdrawal, and habitual smoking behavior that puts obtaining cigarettes and smoking above convenience or basic activities. Indeed, research shows that over half of smokers who attempt to quit tobacco smoking experience withdrawal symptoms including cravings, difficulty dealing with stressful situations, increased appetite, frustration, irritability, and anxiety (Clough et al. 2009).
Influences to change in smoking include concern about current and future health, concerns about addiction, unacceptable or bad image, being sick of cigarettes’ smell, family members who were sick or died as a result of smoking, the financial cost of cigarettes, concerns about physical appearance, fitness, a decline in athletic or artistic performance, and requests to stop from a boyfriend, girlfriend or a family member. Participation in sports as a health promotion activity has failed to change smoking behavior. Studies indicate that greater involvement in sports (organized or individual) leads to an increased risk of tobacco smoking (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011).
In conclusion, tobacco smoking in Australia is more prevalent in men than in females. There has been declined trend in the total population of the overall number smoking tobacco in Australia. This decline is attributed to strict government regulations on tobacco smoking and health education. Tobacco smoking in Australia has been contributed by socio-demographic, environmental, behavioral, and personal factors. Addiction to tobacco smoking is one of the barriers to quitting smoking. It causes dependency, behavioral and emotional manifestations of withdrawal, and habitual smoking behavior that puts obtaining cigarettes and smoking above convenience. Despite those smokers know the risk factors associated with smoking they find it hard to stop tobacco smoking.
References
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2007, National drug strategy household survey. Canberra: AIHW.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2011, National drug strategy household survey report, Canberra: AIHW.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011, Quitting smoking among adults in the United States, American public health journal, vol. 6 no. 44, pp. 1513-1519.
Centre for Epidemiology and Research 2010, Report on adult health from the New South Wales population health survey, Sydney: NSW Department of Health.
Clough, R, Robertson, J, McLaren, D & Marlene, A 2009, ‘Community perspective on reducing Australian Indigenous smoking,’ Tobacco control journal, vol. 8 no.15, pp. 84-96.
Fleming, L & Parker, E 2012. Introduction to public health, 2nd edn, Elsevier, Australia.
Freeman, B, Chapman, S & Rimmer, M 2007, The case for the plain packaging of tobacco products, Sydney: School of Public Health University of Sydney.
Scollo, M 2008, Tobacco in Australia and Issues, 3rd edn, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne.
Tobacco Working Group 2008, Tobacco in Australia: making smoking history, Canberra: National Preventative Health Taskforce.
Winstanley, M 2008, Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues, Surry Hills, Sydney: ASH Australia.