Smoking in a decline: students exchange cigarettes for smartphones!

Find out how smoking behavior in Germany changes and what social aspects play a role.
Find out how smoking behavior in Germany changes and what social aspects play a role. (Symbolbild/ANAG)

Smoking in a decline: students exchange cigarettes for smartphones!

In Germany, smoking behavior has changed significantly in recent years. More and more people, especially students, can no longer take on smoking as part of their cultural technology. These changes show that the gestures and rituals of smoking, such as lighting and holding a cigarette, hardly occur in today's society. In addition, there are significant differences between smoking and cell phone use, which can be differentiated in their motor processes and social signals. While smoking can signal status, pleasure or nervousness, cell phone use often stands for distraction and communication with distant contacts. According to localkompass.de , the smartphone is now considered modern smoking, but without physical smoke. Both activities act as social catalysts and offer opportunities for discussions, but are not suitable for real manual work in nature.

The development of smoke behavior is not only an individual decision, but also strongly influenced by social bonds. In social rounds, many people find smoking more attractive. Social ties not only promote well -being, but also have a strong impact on behavior. This is examined in more detail in an article on pneumology-schlinger.de . The smoke behavior is deeply rooted in history as a social ritual, whereby it includes physical and social aspects that go beyond pure nicotine intake. Community smoking can even be a prerequisite for participation in social groups and raises interesting reflection issues about the motives and dynamics of smoking behavior.

smoking share and trends

The current statistics show that around 28.3 percent of the population smoke in Germany, whereby the smoking proportion in different federal states varies greatly. The lowest proportion in Hesse is 18.1 percent, while Brandenburg is 42.6 percent at the top. The average cigarette consumption per smoker is 14.1 cigarettes per day. Among the under-18-year-olds, the smoking share is 11.9 percent. A remarkable trend is evident in the correlation between school leaving certificate and a proportion of smoking: 41.6 percent of people smoke without school, while only 20.0 percent of people with university entrance qualification are part of it. This information comes from a comprehensive analysis based on the answers of 12,273 people from the past two years, and are published on pharmace of pharmaceutical-zeitung.de .

Despite these alarming numbers, only 28.1 percent of smokers show attempted stop last year. This illustrates the difficulties that many people have in the cessation of tobacco. The long -term success of smoke stop attempts that are made without support is only 3 to 5 percent. Evidence -based cessation for tobacco cessation methods is becoming increasingly pressing in order to move smokers more effectively to smoking. While the smoking share in Germany is 25 percent higher than the European average, countries like Sweden have the lowest smoking share in Europe with only 7 percent.

social relevance and political dimensions

The high proportion of smoking in Germany is partially attributed to the poor implementation of tobacco control measures. While there are strict advertising restrictions on tobacco products in many countries, Germany continues to allow outdoor advertising. Federal drug commissioner Marlene Mortler recently announced a new attempt for a ban on external advertising for tobacco products after earlier drives have failed in this direction. This discrepancy between social needs and political measures shows how complex smoking is in Germany and how necessary a social debate about smoking behavior and the various influences on it.

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