Girls smoking?

When Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut fancily dangled a cigarette between their manicured fingers, it was considered

A recent survey on smoking has set the alarm bells ringing in the city. Chennai Times investigates...

Fashion.

And this trend seems to have caught on amongst young girls who have been puffing away and lighting up by the minute. According to a recent survey conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), almost 20 percent of school girls studying in Chennai and Delhi are hooked on to the cancer stick.

What drives these young girls to take to smoking? While some may argue that the primary reason is to assert equality between the sexes, others say that peer pressure could be the reason. Psychologist Nita Nair, who has counselled a number of teenage girls, says, “This dangerous trend has been on the rise since the 90s. I have had young girls come to me and tell me how they feel pressured to smoke because it is considered cool by their peers. Some of these kids have gone into depression because they feel that they are not able to match their classmates. Nothing seems to dissuade them and soon they fall prey to addiction.”

Despite the cigarette ban firmly in place அண்ட் Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss’s repeated appeals for total prohibition, the numbers of smokers have not dwindled. Smoking amongst girls has also found its way into schools and colleges of the city with most girls trying to take a puff in a desperate attempt to look mature and attract the attention of the boys.

Renuka, a class X student of a leading public school in the city, is one such victim. Says she, “I smoked for the first time with my boyfriend. He taught me how to smoke and whenever we went out he would tell all his friends how he had a cool girlfriend who could smoke as much as him. It was a matter of pride. But soon, I got a bad name amongst my own friends, because when they tried telling me it was not good for me, I refused to acknowledge them and continued to puff away. Now, I’m unable to rid myself of the habit and my boyfriend has left me for someone ‘cooler’.”

Another reason cited by young girls who smoke is weight loss. Often, youngsters are lured to the cigarette in an attempt to keep their weight down and nicotine is believed to suppress hunger pangs. Ritika Das, a nutrionist agrees and says, “Many young girls take to smoking in order to curb their hunger pangs. But trust me; this is the unhealthiest way to lose weight. The skin starts to look worn out and pale, and fingers and teeth get stained. Girls don’t realise that nicotine makes an individual age twice as fast and that cannot be attractive. The best way லாஸ் weight is through a healthy and fit lifestyle. Anxieties about body weight and shape regulation, the feeling of being too fat, and the fear of losing control of eating, may be important forces at work in sustaining cigarette smoking amongst teenage girls.”

Nandini, agrees with Ritika’s theory and says that while smoking did act as a hunger suppressant, she did manage to lose weight. It also resulted in mood swings, anxiety attacks and withdrawal symptoms if she didn’t have her regular number of sticks everyday. “I went from being cheerful and bubbly to moody and crabby and this was a change that didn’t sit well with me. I would get frequent bouts of depression too. I’m glad I kicked the habit, but it was an extremely tough process because it was an addiction, not a habit,” she says.

The consensus seems that the puff is not a symbol of chic independence as advocated by Edward Bernays’s notorious ‘torches of freedom’ concept, where he persuaded women to believe that smoking was a symbol of their freedom. This also acts as an indicator for skinny minnies such as Kate Moss and Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker who are often seen chuffing on a fag. Clean up your act girls, because Mr Big sure ain’t going kiss a foul-mouthed Carrie Bradshaw!