Jump to full article: Korea Times (kr), 2009-07-22
Author: Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter
Intro: The male smoking rate edged up in the first half of the year despite the government’s policies to regulate smoking.
According to a survey by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, the male smoking rate rose to 41.1 percent from 40.9 percent six months ago.
``Increased stress due to the economic slump is partially attributable for the rise in the male smoking rate. But a lack of effectiveness of polices for non-smoking seems to be the main reason,’’ a ministry official said.
The female smoking rate fell to 3.6 percent from the 4.1 percent recorded in the second half of last year. The overall rate including men and women fell to 22.1 percent from 22.3 percent. The survey was conducted on 3,000 adult male and females in June.
The most frequent reason given for smoking was ``habit,'' given by 59 percent of respondents, followed by ``stress,'' with 33 percent.
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