Four separate polls have shown that the number of Icelanders who smoke has been on the wane, but that men seem to have an easier time quitting than women.
In 2009, 15.4% of Icelanders said they were smokers. In 2010, that number reduced to 14.2%. 49.2% said they had never smoked, 29.3% said they had quit over a year ago, 3.4% quit within the past year, and 3.9% said they smoked less often than daily. All of this data was compiled by Capacent Gallup.
Bára Sigurjónsdóttir, the tobacco prevention project manager at The Public Health Institute of Iceland, said that the number of women who are quitting smoking has declined in greater numbers, but that women still find it more difficult to quit than men.
Other data showed that the likelihood of smoking decreases with increased education, and that lower income earners smoked more than those who earned high incomes.
Additionally, one of the four polls added questions about the use of snuff, or mouth tobacco. The practice appears to be entirely within the domain of young men. Only 8% of the total respondents said they had ever tried it, and those who do use it were almost entirely comprised of men between the ages of 16 and 39.
(Photo: One of the few people who ever looked good smoking.)
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