With the Covid crisis, tobacco consumption by women and the less educated has increased

Public Health France (SPF) presented its new barometer on tobacco consumption in France on Tuesday 13 December. It reveals that, if overall the smoking of the French in 2021 is stable compared to the previous year, that of French women and people with fewer qualifications (level below the Baccalaureate) has instead increased.

A stress management tool

The survey was conducted by Ipsos, between 11 February and 15 December 2021, among 24,514 people aged 18-85. In France there are 12 million daily smokers (15 million in total). Of these, 5.5 million are women. It is more than in 2019. The percentage was then 20.7%, up from 23% in 2021. The same observation for the least qualified people, whose percentage rose from 29% in 2019 to 32% in 2021. The hypothesis put forward by SPF is that this increase in smoking” it may be partly related to a stronger impact of the COVID-19 crisis on these populations.” Cigarettes would therefore be a “stress management tool, linked in particular to an increase in the mental workload and to a worsening of women’s working conditions. »

Encourage smokers to get help

However, SPF says that between 2014 and 2019, tobacco prevalence in France experienced an “unprecedented decline” among adults overall, 28.5% to 24% smokers. This is why he plans to rebroadcast his “campaign to encourage people to quit smoking” intended for smokers and in particular for the most vulnerable groups from a socio-economic point of view”, from February 2023. “This campaign aims to deconstruct the fears associated with smoking cessation and to encourage smokers to get help in their cessation process,” specifies the SPF publication. In the meantime, here’s a first reason to try quitting now: Stay warm under the plaid, rather than freezing your fingers and blackening your lungs outside.

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