Argentines: heaviest smokers in Latin America

[sergio]

http://behavioralhealthcentral.com/index.php/20091213153193/Latest-News/argentines-are-latams-biggest-smokers-study-says.html

 

[iStar]

I can't say I'm surprised.

 

[Napoleon]

They're so heavy because of all of the beef that they eat.

 

[mendozanow]

One of the reasons is that a majority of Argentinean women smoke, and smoke often (I have never seen such chainsmokers except amongst Chinese men). For women, I bet Argentina tops the world list for feamle smokers. In most of the rest of Latin America, few women smoke. Most Argentinean men on the other hand, smoke a lot less than most latinos, and many only smoke on occaisions where they are relaxing with friends.

Smoking is often a sign of "power" and arrogance.

 

[fifilafiloche]

Smoking is often a sign of "power" and arrogance.

Strange, i feel just the contrary. I m a smoker and i feel i m smoking because i lack of power/control on myself. My smoking is casual, mainly provoked by other smokers. That "social" smoking shows more a will to adapt than a will to dominate.

I have no clue why argentine women smoke more than anywhere else, but the price of cigarettes has certainly something to do with the higher number of smokers in Argentina (1 Euro against 5 Euros in Europe). Everywhere in the world tho, the "liberation" of women has induced more masculine behaviours, smoking included. Babyboomer females are now affected much more by deseases that were mainly masculine for the previous generation (lunge cancer, heart attack...). They expose themselves more to the stress linked to the responsabilities of a professional life.

Argentina might not be a paradise for non smokers, but there like in other domains (driving for example), it s a trait of the argentine culture : "live and let live" where law didnt interfere in every detail of private life.

 

[arty]

I smoke because it is so cheap here. I stopped in the USA when it got to be 8-10$ a pack. But at 5.50 peso, can you afford not to smoke????

 

[Moxon]

Actually Argentina comes in 44th in the world for female smoking prevalence with 23.5%. Topping the charts is Nauru with 52.4%

The cigarettes here do seem extraordinarily cheap relative to wages. According to the same study, Argentina has one of the lowest costs per cigarette in the region, Paraguay is the only neighbouring country with cheaper cigarettes, Chile and Uruguay are much higher.