Teen Girls Light Up

Teenage girls who have a poor body image are four times more likely
to start smoking than girls who do not have such concerns. According to
research, teens are lighting up to bolster their self-esteem, not to lose
weight.

Researchers had once thought that young girls smoked to control
their weight, explains author Michael Siegel, M.D., an associate
professor at Boston University School of Public Health in Massachusetts.
Instead, he found a connection between self-image and smoking. Girls with
low-self esteem--thin or not--were at risk. "Across the spectrum, it
really has to do with a negative body image," he says.

In his telephone survey, Siegel randomly contacted 273 girls, ages
12 to 15 and asked them to rate the importance of being thin on a scale
of one to ten. They were also questioned as to whether they had ever
smoked a cigarette. Four years later, Siegel contacted the same subjects
and found 23 percent had picked up the habit. He found that girls who
reported unhappiness with their appearance were three to four times more
likely to smoke, regardless of their weight.

While the tobacco industry has promoted cigarettes as a way to
bolster self-image, Siegel argues that the public health sector has
failed to counter this tactic. He believes that future prevention efforts
should keep in mind the link between a negative self-image and smoking.
"We really need to pay attention to deeper psychological issues, such as
what people think of themselves."