Tobacco.org

WATER PIPE USAGE INCREASING 

Smoking tobacco using a water pipe - also called a hookah -- generally is viewed in a more positive light than smoking cigarettes, particularly for women, according to one of the first studies to look at the effect of social attitudes and gender on water pipe and cigarette smoking.

The study, published in the April issue of Preventive Medicine, involved two surveys that were given last year to 587 male and female students at Aleppo University in Syria and 268 customers at Aleppo cafes and restaurants that permit customers to smoke using hookahs filled with fruit-flavored tobacco. The surveys found that hookah users, especially women, were particularly enthusiastic about what they viewed as the hookah's positive aspects, including its traditional, familiar, social and attractive look.

The surveys were conducted by the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies, a National Institutes of Health-funded tobacco-control research center that involves collaboration among researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Aleppo School of Medicine and the University of Memphis.

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