There has been a lot of conversation in recent headlines in the U.S. about women’s health issues and the so-called “War on Women.” And yeah, there is war going on, but it is a war that is on a much different front line that what the headlines tell you.

From a certain perspective, it can be argued that there is a dangerous habit that has actually led many women to declare war on themselves. Now before I get a lot of hate mail, you need to hear me out on this. I’m clarifying my qualifier, the phrase “from a certain perspective.” In this case, the “war on women” is internal and mental, having to do with a dangerous addiction that has been proven harmful to those who engage. And with many women, especially working women, engaging in this addiction, they made a conscious choice in the beginning and have since become imprisoned by their choices.

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Fried Dough via a Creative Commons license]

[Image courtesy of Flickr user Fried Dough via a Creative Commons license]

Cigarette smoking was a big part of American society and culture until the 1970s and 1980s, when the health effects came to light in various government public-safety announcements (PSAs). Then there were rules that forbade cigarettes being smoked in movies, banning cigarette commercials and advertising  and laws that banned smoking just about anywhere indoors (and even some outdoor spots as well).  Education did help curb the level of smoking in general, but a recent study revealed some disturbing information about working women  and smoking – especially those women who were pregnant or of child-bearing age.

The survey, which interviewed nearly 45 million women and published results in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, found that 17 percent of working women were smokers at the time of the interview, with another 13 percent declaring themselves former smokers. Of the 17 percent that smoke daily, more than half of them had not tried to quit in the last year. Even more surprising, more than three-fourths (76 percent) of the current-smoking group said they smoked every day.

And when it comes to child-bearing, about 3 percent of the women interviewed were pregnant at the time of the interview, with 8 percent of those people saying they were current smokers and about half of those people admitting they smoked every day.

With smoking have long-lasting effects ,even years after a person quits, knowing that in such an extensive survey that three in 10 women are smoking of have smoked in recent years, and that still a percentage of women were doing it while pregnant – thereby putting their child at risk – smoking is clearly still a significant public health problem. Workplaces would be encouraged to implement a program to encourage women to quit smoking, if they have not already done so, and inform and educate workers about the value of the program.

For more about the survey and its results, check out this link.