Study finds link between smoking availability and smoking during pregnancy

One study suggested that pregnant women smoke more if they live in areas where many stores sell cigarettes.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have examined maternity registers in parallel with information on all Scottish tobacco outlets.

They said their study was the first to reveal the links between tobacco availability and smoking during pregnancy.

Previous research had suggested that tobacco was more available in less-favored areas.

The research team said that "restricting the supply of tobacco could help fight health inequalities".

The study found that pregnant women living in Scottish neighborhoods where the availability of tobacco products was the most abundant were 70% more likely to smoke than those living in areas where no tobacco was sold.

Dr. Tom Clemens, director of geoscience studies at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Smoking during pregnancy is a critically important public health problem that has lasting consequences for the mother and the child.

"This study provides the strongest evidence to date of the need to tackle the supply of tobacco to reduce the prevalence of smoking."

"Healthy choices"

According to researchers, limiting the supply of tobacco could help reduce smoking rates among pregnant women, of whom 15% smoke, and in the overall Scottish population.

The Scottish Government has set a goal of reducing smoking rates among adults by less than 5% by 2034. The current rate of 21% has not decreased since 2013, according to the report. # 39; university.

Sheila Duffy, Executive Director of ASH Scotland, said: "The environments in which people grow often influence their choices about healthy choices.

"In some communities, the damage caused by heavy smoking goes hand in hand with the sale of tobacco in most stores.

"Retailers need support to avoid selling a lethal and addictive product that Scotland is committed to removing from sight, away from thought and completely in vogue. "

The team examined maternity registers – which contain detailed information on the smoking of pregnant women – for more than 700,000 births in Scotland between 2000 and 2015. They focused on women who had at least two babies during pregnancy. of this period and who moved between two pregnancies.

The data were analyzed alongside information on all tobacco outlets in Scotland.

The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, was funded by the Medical Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council.