New
Service for TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com
readers...roll mouse over, click on
highlighted links in stories to review items
from Amazon
Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Some poor households opt for cigarettes over
food
Newswise — Cigarettes or
adequate food is a tough choice for some
poor families, according to a new study from
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
The researchers found that of
low-income families, those containing a
household head or spouse who smoked
cigarettes were at about 6 percent higher
risk for being “food insecure” — not always
able to put enough food on the table.
Such families purchase, on
average, 10 packs of cigarettes per week,
spending around $33.70 — enough to add two
pounds of ground beef, two pounds of chicken
breasts, 64 ounces of fresh orange juice and
10 pounds of frozen vegetables to the weekly
menu, at current supermarket prices.
The study appears in the
July/August issue of the American Journal of
Health Promotion.
Brian Armour, Ph.D., led the
researchers, who analyzed data from the 2001
Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a long-term
study of U.S. men, women, and children and
families.
They looked at the connection
between smoking and the lack of consistent
and dependable access to nutritious food,
while controlling for other socioeconomic
factors and behavioral health choices.
The choice between smoking
and having more food might seem like a
no-brainer, but this is not the case, said
Terry Pechacek, associate director of
science for the CDC’s Office on Smoking and
Health.
“Smoking is an addiction that gets
established in adolescence, before
individuals fully understand the long-term
implications of their behavior,” he said.
“Poor families suffer the long-term health
impact.”
The results did not surprise
Sonia Duffy, a research investigator for the
VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and
University of Michigan Schools of Nursing
and Medicine.
“Our research has shown that
poor health behaviors do cluster together,”
said Duffy, who was unaffiliated with the
new study.
However, she said that the study
does not consider whether people in the
study also suffered from depression, which
is common in lower socioeconomic populations
and could correlate with smoking.
“Providing access to
cessation services will help people quit,”
Armour said.
“The most important things are
the health benefits associated with
quitting, and a byproduct might be to free
up funds to end food insecurity.”
American Journal of Health
Promotion: Call
(248) 682-0707 or
visit
http://www.healthpromotionjournal.com.
The CDC has set up a
toll-free phone number, 1-800-QUIT NOW, to
which overworked or understaffed health care
providers can refer clients.
...
...
...