To University junior Chelsea Williams, smoking a cigarette comes just as naturally as breathing.
She isn’t alone. Out of more than 10,000 females attending the University, 20 percent of them smoke, according to a University Health Center survey.
But female smokers, including young women at the University, may be at greater risk than previously thought.
A recent report found that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death among women. The study — co-sponsored by the Center for Women’s Health at Oregon Health and Science University and the National Women’s Law Center — found that nearly 2,000 women die of smoking-related causes, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, each year in Oregon. The national number reaches 178,000.
The study also found that in the 18-to-24-year-old range, 26 percent of women smoke in Oregon, which is a higher percentage than the national average.
Michelle Berlin, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, public health and preventative medicine, was one of the primary authors of the report. She said the study’s results deliver deplorable news for Oregon women.
“A lot of women are dying, and we can and should be doing more to help,” Berlin said. “These are preventable deaths.”
The study breaks new ground in comprehensively assessing women’s smoking-related health conditions and the policies that have proved effective in reducing smoking, according to the study’s authors.
It grades and ranks each state based on 11 health statute indicators and evaluates the strength of state tobacco control policies through 10 policy indicators.
Oregon was one of 38 states to receive a failing grade, tying with Virginia for 20th place in the nation.
The report also found that Oregon fares worse than the national average when it comes to the number of pregnant women who smoke. The national goal for the number of pregnant women smoking is less than 1 percent, but 25 percent of pregnant women age 15 to 19 smoke. Overall, in Oregon, 13 percent of pregnant women smoke.
“The rates of smoking among teenagers and young women, whether pregnant or not, is extremely discouraging,” Berlin said.
Williams admitted that she was in high school when she first picked up smoking, and said she has tried to quit in the past but couldn’t. According to the survey, 53 percent of female smokers in Oregon are trying to quit.
Health educator Annie Dochnahl said that at the University, 82 percent of smokers have considered quitting and 61 percent have tried.
Dochnahl said that it typically takes approximately five quit-attempts before a person is successful. She said students should consider their first attempts as building blocks to quitting.
“Students shouldn’t be discouraged the first, second or third time,” she said. “It’s about learning what works and what doesn’t.”
The health center offers free nicotine replacement therapy for students in both patch and gum form. The replacement therapy is available at the health center pharmacy, as well as the Peer Health Education Office.
Berlin said the most successful way to reach the national goals for women and smoking is to keep women from ever picking up a cigarette in the first place.
“The best advice for women is to never start,” she said. “If you smoke, you need to stop as soon as possible.”