TEENAGE girls desperate to keep their weight down may be leaving themselves open to a greater health risk – because they can’t kick the cigarettes.
Now a York doctor has sent out an appeal for youngsters whose believe their smoking habit will stop them from over-eating to stub out their potentially more damaging use of tobacco.
It comes after a new study by the government’s food watchdog the Food Standards Agency (FSA) revealed girls in their teens eat more unhealthily than anybody else, shunning the recommended intake of fruit and vegetables and missing out on vital nutrients.
Dr David Fair, of the Jorvik Medical Practice, said one of the problems he and other GPs had encountered as they tried to steer teenagers towards a healthier lifestyle was that they believed stopping smoking would cause them to gain weight.
He also believes teenagers need to be more aware of the problems they may be storing up for the future by not taking enough notice of their health.
“I’ve seen young girls smoking in place of eating healthily because they see cigarettes as an antidote to obesity, but this only exacerbates their potential long-term health problems,” he said. “It’s quite common for people to put weight on when they stop smoking because cigarettes have the effect of reducing a person’s appetite and taking away food cravings. Sometimes, they are also cheaper than food.
“This can be more of an issue with older people who are already overweight, but there is a balance – which is quite difficult to strike – and my advice is that it is better to stop smoking than to put a bit of extra weight on. It will still result in them being fitter and happier.”
Dr Fair also believes one of the barriers to the healthy-eating message is youngsters choosing fast-food restaurants – which he says “don’t seem to have suffered in the financial crisis” – ahead of healthier alternatives. He said: “They may be choosing this ahead of physical exercise because, again, it is cheaper than paying membership fees and buying sports kit. It’s inevitable that part of being an adolescent is that thinking about your life and health when you get older is not part of the mindset. That’s not necessarily a medical observation, but perhaps something I remember from being that age.”
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Feb 22, 2010
Feb 15, 2010
Underage smokers using taspo cards
About 30 percent of middle and high school students who are below the legal age to smoke buy cigarettes using taspo IC cards, which were introduced to prevent minors from lighting up, according to a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry study panel.
The panel, chaired by Nihon University Prof. Takashi Oida, said about 40 percent of these underage taspo users obtained the cards from home or family members.
The panel conducted the survey on minors' smoking habits on 240 middle and high schools nationwide in autumn 2008, and 96,000 students in 172 schools responded.Regarding the introduction of taspo cards, which are used to confirm whether purchasers are of legal adult age when buying cigarette packs from automatic vending machines, 61 percent of the underage students who said they regularly smoke once a month or more said it has become more difficult for them to buy cigarettes.
But 29 percent also said they had bought tobacco using taspo cards. Among students that smoke daily, 42 percent said they had used taspo cards.
Regarding how they acquired the cards, 15 percent said they brought the cards from home; 22 percent said they borrowed cards from family members; and 7.9 percent said they undertook procedures on their own to obtain the cards from the tobacco industry's card-issuing authority.
The percentages of students who smoke at least once a month were 2.9 percent among male middle school students, 2 percent among female middle school students, 9.8 percent among male high school students, and 4.5 percent among female high school students. These figures marked a considerable fall from those of the previous survey 12 years ago--11 percent of male middle school students, 4.9 percent of female middle school students, 31 percent of male high school students, and 13 percent of female high school students.
"As fewer youths regard smoking as being cool, [the phenomenon of] minors' smoking has been steadily decreasing," Oida said. "Though taspo cards are effective to a certain degree, family members' cooperation is necessary."
The panel, chaired by Nihon University Prof. Takashi Oida, said about 40 percent of these underage taspo users obtained the cards from home or family members.
The panel conducted the survey on minors' smoking habits on 240 middle and high schools nationwide in autumn 2008, and 96,000 students in 172 schools responded.Regarding the introduction of taspo cards, which are used to confirm whether purchasers are of legal adult age when buying cigarette packs from automatic vending machines, 61 percent of the underage students who said they regularly smoke once a month or more said it has become more difficult for them to buy cigarettes.
But 29 percent also said they had bought tobacco using taspo cards. Among students that smoke daily, 42 percent said they had used taspo cards.
Regarding how they acquired the cards, 15 percent said they brought the cards from home; 22 percent said they borrowed cards from family members; and 7.9 percent said they undertook procedures on their own to obtain the cards from the tobacco industry's card-issuing authority.
The percentages of students who smoke at least once a month were 2.9 percent among male middle school students, 2 percent among female middle school students, 9.8 percent among male high school students, and 4.5 percent among female high school students. These figures marked a considerable fall from those of the previous survey 12 years ago--11 percent of male middle school students, 4.9 percent of female middle school students, 31 percent of male high school students, and 13 percent of female high school students.
"As fewer youths regard smoking as being cool, [the phenomenon of] minors' smoking has been steadily decreasing," Oida said. "Though taspo cards are effective to a certain degree, family members' cooperation is necessary."
Feb 12, 2010
Celanese Counts On Cigarette Smoking, Soda Drinking To Raise Earnings
Celanese Corp. (CE), a Dallas chemical company, is counting on a rebound in cigarette smoking and soda-pop drinking to drive its earnings higher in 2011 and 2012.
As part of its consumer specialty segment, Celanese manufactures a sweetener for soft drinks and a product that is used for cigarettes filters. Its customers include Altria Group Inc. (MO), its Philip Morris International (PM) spin-off, and PepsiCo Corp. (PEP).
"These tend to go into decline later in the cycle. We think that demand has bottomed out," Dave Weidman, chief executive and chairman of Celanese said in an interview Tuesday. But he was cautious about seeing any improvement for 2010, instead forecasting increases in the next two to three years.
Celanese swung to a small fourth-quarter profit Tuesday and topped analyst expectations. But the consumer specialty segment, what Weidman describes as a " late-cycle business," saw a volume decline because of soft demand for cigarettes and soft-drinks in global recession.
In January, Altria, the biggest U.S. tobacco producer, reported about a 11% to 12% decline in cigarette volumes in the fourth quarter and has a cautious outlook for the following year. "The business environment for 2010 is likely to remain challenging as many consumers continue to be under economic pressure based on high unemployment," Michael Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria, said during an earnings conference call Jan. 28. Pepsi and Philip Morris International are scheduled to report quarterly results Thursday.
Celanese has three business segments that manufacture other chemicals used in paints, textiles and medical devices. The company has more than 30 industrial plants in North America, Europe and Asia.
The $4.2 billion company is "aggressively" pursuing several acquisitions that range in size of a few million dollars to just under $500 million in all three of geographic locations, Weidman said. "We like to stay in businesses that are similar to businesses that we have today," Weidman said. Weidman declined to give a timeline for when any of these deals could close.
Its largest segment by revenue, the acetyl intermediates division, had " significant volume recovery and margin expansion" in the fourth quarter. Its revenue climbed 13% as the segment returned to profitability.
"Much of the beat came from very strong results in the company's core acetyl intermediates business from which the company generates over 50% of its revenues," Hassan Ahmed, an analyst with Alembic Global Advisors in New York, wrote in a note to clients.
Celanese posted earnings of $5 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $155 million, or $1.09 a share.
Excluding impacts such as income-tax gains and provisions, the latest quarter had a 50-cent profit from continuing operations while the year earlier had a 40- cent loss. Revenue rose 7.9% to $1.39 billion on improved demand.
Weidman expects that in the next year Celanese's earnings per share should increase because the company has closed plants in Europe and Mexico meaning it will have lower taxes and less depreciation to report.
Shares of Celanese rose 40 cents, or 1.4%, to $29.97.
As part of its consumer specialty segment, Celanese manufactures a sweetener for soft drinks and a product that is used for cigarettes filters. Its customers include Altria Group Inc. (MO), its Philip Morris International (PM) spin-off, and PepsiCo Corp. (PEP).
"These tend to go into decline later in the cycle. We think that demand has bottomed out," Dave Weidman, chief executive and chairman of Celanese said in an interview Tuesday. But he was cautious about seeing any improvement for 2010, instead forecasting increases in the next two to three years.
Celanese swung to a small fourth-quarter profit Tuesday and topped analyst expectations. But the consumer specialty segment, what Weidman describes as a " late-cycle business," saw a volume decline because of soft demand for cigarettes and soft-drinks in global recession.
In January, Altria, the biggest U.S. tobacco producer, reported about a 11% to 12% decline in cigarette volumes in the fourth quarter and has a cautious outlook for the following year. "The business environment for 2010 is likely to remain challenging as many consumers continue to be under economic pressure based on high unemployment," Michael Szymanczyk, chairman and chief executive of Altria, said during an earnings conference call Jan. 28. Pepsi and Philip Morris International are scheduled to report quarterly results Thursday.
Celanese has three business segments that manufacture other chemicals used in paints, textiles and medical devices. The company has more than 30 industrial plants in North America, Europe and Asia.
The $4.2 billion company is "aggressively" pursuing several acquisitions that range in size of a few million dollars to just under $500 million in all three of geographic locations, Weidman said. "We like to stay in businesses that are similar to businesses that we have today," Weidman said. Weidman declined to give a timeline for when any of these deals could close.
Its largest segment by revenue, the acetyl intermediates division, had " significant volume recovery and margin expansion" in the fourth quarter. Its revenue climbed 13% as the segment returned to profitability.
"Much of the beat came from very strong results in the company's core acetyl intermediates business from which the company generates over 50% of its revenues," Hassan Ahmed, an analyst with Alembic Global Advisors in New York, wrote in a note to clients.
Celanese posted earnings of $5 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of $155 million, or $1.09 a share.
Excluding impacts such as income-tax gains and provisions, the latest quarter had a 50-cent profit from continuing operations while the year earlier had a 40- cent loss. Revenue rose 7.9% to $1.39 billion on improved demand.
Weidman expects that in the next year Celanese's earnings per share should increase because the company has closed plants in Europe and Mexico meaning it will have lower taxes and less depreciation to report.
Shares of Celanese rose 40 cents, or 1.4%, to $29.97.
Feb 8, 2010
One stop health shop opens on High Street
A one stop health shop has opened in Lincoln’s city centre on Friday, February 5th. The facility aims to help people stop smoking, deal with weight problems and be aware of sexual transmitted diseases.The old tourist information centre, in the Cornhill, has been transformed into the Phoenix NHS Health Shop. It will offer stop smoking advice for free, as well as lifestyle tips for weight management. Young people will also be able to request self-testing kits for Chlamydia.
The Phoenix Health Shop was officially opened by Gillian Merron, the MP for Lincoln. After cutting the red tape, she gave a speech in which she congratulated all who had been involved in the project and spoke about stop smoking legislation that she, as Minister of State for Public Health, has passed: “I am very proud that I took the legislation through parliament, the bit of the health bill that calls time on tobacco displays and vending machines, both of which tend to appeal more to young people in terms of getting tobacco.”
Merron said in an interview with The Linc: “We have a duty to help people, particularly young people. Many smokers tell me they took up when they were very young so we have a responsibility not just to provide these services but to have laws in place to make sure we help young people from smoking.”
“All I have ever done is smoke three cigarettes in one night at my friend’s 21st birthday and I never wanted to smoke again because, honestly, I couldn’t speak the next day. So I have never been a smoker but what I do know is that it is a big challenge, because it is an addiction, to give it up and that’s why we have to help people, because we can’t just leave people to die.”
Gary Burroughs, Lincolnshire Tobacco Control Strategy Manager who also attended the opening, knows that the new NHS Health Shop will be a success. The Phoenix Stop Smoking Shop in City Square is being used as a template for the new facility and Burroughs said: “What we did find was that it was too small, too many people wanted to use it and the demand for it was that great that we had to find an alternative. What it also proved was that local people prefer to actually be seen in that environment rather than say seeing a pharmacist or their GP.”
Feb 4, 2010
Judge Orders F.D.A. to Stop Blocking Imports of E-Cigarettes From China
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to stop blocking the importation of electronic cigarettes from China and indicated that the devices should be regulated as tobacco products rather than drug or medical devices.
Judge Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court in Washington issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by two distributors of the so-called e-cigarettes, which are battery-powered tubes that heat liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor and are meant to simulate the taste of tobacco.
The distributors say the vapor contains virtually none of the cancer-causing chemicals of traditional cigarettes, but the F.D.A. says it has not been proved safe.
“This case appears to be yet another example of F.D.A.’s aggressive effortsto regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices,” Judge Leon wrote.
With the passage of landmark tobacco legislation last year, he added, the Food and Drug Administration’s new tobacco division will be able to regulate the contents and marketing claims of e-cigarettes in the same way it is about to begin regulating traditional tobacco products. But the agency’s drug division cannot ban the devices, the judge ruled.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a brief statement: “The public health issues surrounding electronic cigarettes are of serious concern to the F.D.A. The agency is reviewing Judge Leon’s opinion and will decide the appropriate action to take.”
Ray Story, vice president of Smoking Everywhere, a Florida company that filed the suit, said the ruling was a victory for smokers who want a safer cigarette.
“The public will have a much less harmful alternative to tobacco products,” Mr. Story said. “Wherever they’re sold, we are going to be sold.”
Jack Leadbeater, chief executive of Sottera, an Arizona company that joined the suit, said border authorities would have to stop blocking and seizing imports and would have to release thousands of impounded e-cigarettes and millions of nicotine cartridges.
Mr. Leadbeater, chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Association, estimated that the products were a $100 million business nationwide.
Matthew L. Myers, president of the antismoking advocacy group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the ruling opened “a gaping loophole” in the F.D.A.’s ability to regulate non-tobacco products containing nicotine.
He said the judge’s decision “ignores the common sense distinction” the F.D.A. has long drawn between traditional tobacco products like cigarettes and cigars and “a host of non-tobacco products, ranging from toothpaste to lollipops to water, in which manufacturers have added nicotine, a highly addictive substance.”
Mr. Myers’ organization and other health groups had promoted legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. But he said the law, signed by President Obama last June, was intended for traditional tobacco products, not electronic ones where nicotine levels and flavors could be easily adjusted.
Mr. Myers said e-cigarettes posed several potential serious risks to public health, including lack of controls on potency, a means to discourage current smokers from quitting by providing an alternative in smoke-free spaces and the possibility “these products could serve as a pathway to nicotine addiction for children.”
Judge Leon argued that the devices should be regulated in the same way as cigarettes. The judge also agreed with the distributors that e-cigarettes were not marketed as medical devices to help smokers quit, as the Food and Drug Administration had argued, but rather as safer substitutes to give users “the nicotine hit that smokers crave.”
The plastic tubes, shaped like cigarettes, have a heating element to vaporize a refillable liquid nicotine mixture. They have electronics to monitor air flow so that when a user inhales, the device delivers a vapor with a taste and feel that the distributors say simulates cigarette smoke.
Traditional cigarette makers have not been involved in the fledgling industry.
Judge Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court in Washington issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by two distributors of the so-called e-cigarettes, which are battery-powered tubes that heat liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor and are meant to simulate the taste of tobacco.
The distributors say the vapor contains virtually none of the cancer-causing chemicals of traditional cigarettes, but the F.D.A. says it has not been proved safe.
“This case appears to be yet another example of F.D.A.’s aggressive effortsto regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices,” Judge Leon wrote.
With the passage of landmark tobacco legislation last year, he added, the Food and Drug Administration’s new tobacco division will be able to regulate the contents and marketing claims of e-cigarettes in the same way it is about to begin regulating traditional tobacco products. But the agency’s drug division cannot ban the devices, the judge ruled.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a brief statement: “The public health issues surrounding electronic cigarettes are of serious concern to the F.D.A. The agency is reviewing Judge Leon’s opinion and will decide the appropriate action to take.”
Ray Story, vice president of Smoking Everywhere, a Florida company that filed the suit, said the ruling was a victory for smokers who want a safer cigarette.
“The public will have a much less harmful alternative to tobacco products,” Mr. Story said. “Wherever they’re sold, we are going to be sold.”
Jack Leadbeater, chief executive of Sottera, an Arizona company that joined the suit, said border authorities would have to stop blocking and seizing imports and would have to release thousands of impounded e-cigarettes and millions of nicotine cartridges.
Mr. Leadbeater, chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Association, estimated that the products were a $100 million business nationwide.
Matthew L. Myers, president of the antismoking advocacy group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said the ruling opened “a gaping loophole” in the F.D.A.’s ability to regulate non-tobacco products containing nicotine.
He said the judge’s decision “ignores the common sense distinction” the F.D.A. has long drawn between traditional tobacco products like cigarettes and cigars and “a host of non-tobacco products, ranging from toothpaste to lollipops to water, in which manufacturers have added nicotine, a highly addictive substance.”
Mr. Myers’ organization and other health groups had promoted legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. But he said the law, signed by President Obama last June, was intended for traditional tobacco products, not electronic ones where nicotine levels and flavors could be easily adjusted.
Mr. Myers said e-cigarettes posed several potential serious risks to public health, including lack of controls on potency, a means to discourage current smokers from quitting by providing an alternative in smoke-free spaces and the possibility “these products could serve as a pathway to nicotine addiction for children.”
Judge Leon argued that the devices should be regulated in the same way as cigarettes. The judge also agreed with the distributors that e-cigarettes were not marketed as medical devices to help smokers quit, as the Food and Drug Administration had argued, but rather as safer substitutes to give users “the nicotine hit that smokers crave.”
The plastic tubes, shaped like cigarettes, have a heating element to vaporize a refillable liquid nicotine mixture. They have electronics to monitor air flow so that when a user inhales, the device delivers a vapor with a taste and feel that the distributors say simulates cigarette smoke.
Traditional cigarette makers have not been involved in the fledgling industry.
Feb 1, 2010
Writ plea against ‘weak’ tobacco warnings
The warnings on tobacco products are weak and convey no message, the Old Students Association of the P.G. College, Secunderabad, has alleged. The Association has filed a writ petition in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the inaction of the government in implementing the law and neglecting the health of citizens.
The pictorial warnings on tobacco products like cigarettes in other countries were very explicit and really sent the desired message to the smoker. After their introduction, the tobacco companies in those countries had reported a decline in sales, Association general secretary A Ramakrishna and Harinath Reddy said at an interaction on Sunday. “However, in our country the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are not only weak but also look like a piece of complicated art which no one understands,” they added.
The Central Government has framed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules 2008, which mandate pictorial warnings on tobacco products in colour. But the warnings were being carried in black and white and looked like an image showing water flow between two rocks, they said.
Further, while the Rules required pictorial warnings on both sides of the packet, they were being printed only on one side. The Government made it mandatory to rotate the specified pictorial warnings every 12 months and even that was not being followed, they charged.
Strong pictorial warnings on tobacco products was an evidence-based measure to warn the users and thus empower the consumer, they explained and added that their nonimplementation amounted to violation of the right of an individual to healthy life, granted by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The pictorial warnings on tobacco products like cigarettes in other countries were very explicit and really sent the desired message to the smoker. After their introduction, the tobacco companies in those countries had reported a decline in sales, Association general secretary A Ramakrishna and Harinath Reddy said at an interaction on Sunday. “However, in our country the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are not only weak but also look like a piece of complicated art which no one understands,” they added.
The Central Government has framed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules 2008, which mandate pictorial warnings on tobacco products in colour. But the warnings were being carried in black and white and looked like an image showing water flow between two rocks, they said.
Further, while the Rules required pictorial warnings on both sides of the packet, they were being printed only on one side. The Government made it mandatory to rotate the specified pictorial warnings every 12 months and even that was not being followed, they charged.
Strong pictorial warnings on tobacco products was an evidence-based measure to warn the users and thus empower the consumer, they explained and added that their nonimplementation amounted to violation of the right of an individual to healthy life, granted by Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
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