Content about Habits

NEW YORK — In spite of a court ruling striking down a ban on large-sized sugary drinks, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has another health initiative in the works: a requirement that retailers hide tobacco products.

Bloomberg's legislation, which would make New York the first city to keep tobacco products out of the sight of customers, will go to the city council for consideration. The New York Times noted that Bloomberg skipped this procedure with the soft drink rule.

ATLANTA - Smoking among adults with mental illnesses is 70% higher than among those without them, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WASHINGTON — New results from a national online public opinion poll of Americans 18 and older show that 34% of smokers plan to quit smoking as a New Year’s resolution in 2013, as compared to only 18% who reported that quitting smoking was a New Year’s resolution in 2012. Increasing costs of cigarettes (67%) and concerns about the health risks associated with smoking (58%) were two of the key factors motivating smokers to contemplate quitting as a resolution for 2013.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — The consumer products division of British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline wants its voice heard at a Food and Drug Administration hearing scheduled for next year on a section in a 2009 law to regulate tobacco products that deals with smoking-cessation products, the company said Monday.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Hiding tobacco product displays at the point of sale may help reduce smoking among young people, a new study suggests.

The study, conducted by RTI International and Tarheel Technologies and published in the January 2013 issue of the journal Pediatrics, examined the behaviors of more than 1,200 smokers and likely smokers ages 13 years to 17 years in a virtual convenience store in which tobacco products were either hidden behind a cabinet or openly displayed along with tobacco ads.

CINCINNATI — A new University of Cincinnati study released last week examined how anxiety sensitivity can thwart the efforts of smokers with asthma to quit smoking. This new direction of research from Alison McLeish, a UC assistant professor of psychology, was presented Nov.17 at the 46th annual convention of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in National Harbor, Md.

BOSTON — Smokers who have been unsuccessful to date in trying to kick the nicotine habit may be able to stop smoking by combining two smoking cessation approaches, according to a report published in the Oct. 17 issue of JAMA.  

ATLANTA — Sales of smoking-cessation products may realize a March boom following a recent government advertising campaign that encourages Americans to quit smoking.

One week following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's launch of its Tips from Former Smokers campaign, calls to the 1-800-QUIT-NOW quitline were up 130.4%, the agency reported Monday. Calls were up an additional 3.5% in the subsequent week.

A record 34,413 calls were fielded between March 26 and April 1, the CDC reported.

WASHINGTON — Approximately 13% of smokers do not disclose their tobacco habit to their healthcare provider, according to a survey released Friday by Legacy.

And while a majority of smokers did admit their smoking status, only some 25% sought help from their doctors or healthcare providers during their last quit attempt.

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday appealed a recent District Court ruling that had placed a preliminary injunction on new, graphic anti-smoking messages that were to be placed on cigarette packaging as of September 2012. The five tobacco company plaintiffs argued that the mandated graphics violate the First Amendment.

The appeal moves the case to to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

WASHINGTON — Tobacco companies received a favorable ruling Monday and as a consequence will not have to institute new graphics that depicted images like diseased smokers on their packaging next year.

ATLANTA — Not only are there fewer smokers across the country, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Tuesday, but the men and women that are still smoking also are smoking less.

The report, which covered data from 2005 to 2010, showed an estimated 19.3% of American adults, ages 18 years and older, continue to smoke, a decline from 20.9% in 2005.