Health behavior-Research Findings and Recommendations

Health behavior-Research Findings and Recommendations

Health behaviour encompasses all actions that are targeted at attaining, maintaining, or regaining good health as well as preventing sickness. Practices that define good health behaviour include but are not limited to regular exercise, good nutrition depicted as balanced dieting, disease prophylactic measures such as immunizations and vaccinations, and social well-being, among others. Factors related to an individual’s physical, social or cultural environments also influence their health behaviour greatly. Whereas health behaviour is individualized, it may also be of critical concern to public health. Individualized practices that may have devastating effects on the general health of the public include cigarette smoking and poor sanitation, among others. This paper seeks to discuss research findings on tobacco smoking, the effectiveness of strategies utilized in reducing tobacco use, and recommend effective ways to reduce tobacco use.

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The use of tobacco has been implicated in several human pathologies. With increasing evidence linking tobacco smoking to lung pathologies such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, its use has been heavily discouraged by many health frontiers groups. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommends smoke-free policies and tobacco price raises as strategies to reduce tobacco use, which I agree with because of the following reasons:

The imposition of smoke-free policies provides restrictions to the use of tobacco in the entities covered by the policy. This has dual effects in protecting the public that may be vulnerable to the effects of tobacco smoke due to passive smoking, as well as making it impossible to use tobacco, thus generally reducing its usage (Mayne et al., 2018). Moreover, these restrictions may confer significant benefits to individuals who are trying to quit cigarette smoking by preventing their exposure to cues that may elicit the desire to smoke. These restrictive effects attributed to smoke-free policies reduce tobacco use markedly.

Likewise, raising the cost of tobacco limits the availability of tobacco to some proportion of the population. The high cost of obtaining tobacco makes it impossible for these tobacco users to continue smoking. Consequently, some of these users will cease smoking tobacco. This is particularly effective among low-income individuals (Parks et al., 2017). The overall effects are a reduction in smoking and an improvement in health status.

Research evidence points out the public health gains that have been realized by smoke-free policies and raising the cost of tobacco. Smoke-free policies have been imposed to restrict the smoking of tobacco in particular places at a particular time. Smoking tobacco in public places, transport systems, restaurants, and public gatherings has been prohibited in many states, with some states incriminating that act and imposing punitive actions on its violators (Kegler et al., 2018). Atlanta City Council, on the 1st of July 2019, approved a comprehensive smoke-free law that ensured that all residents of Atlanta breathe clean air. This policy covers restaurants, workplaces, bars, and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Kegler et al., 2019). The effects of this legislation are improved quality of air in Atlanta. Other cities and states should take such measures to ensure their residents breathe smoke-free air.

Raising the cost of cigarettes has also produced beneficial effects. The imposition of higher taxation has achieved high pricing of tobacco and tobacco products. Studies have shown that high taxation on tobacco products has reduced their usage among youth and low-income individuals. Raising the cost of tobacco and its products is, therefore, necessary for reducing its usage.

Despite the gains made in the reduction of tobacco use by smoke-free policies imposition and increasing taxes on tobacco and tobacco products, recent data indicates an increasing trend in tobacco use among adolescents and young adults. Middle school and high school students are increasingly being found to indulge in cigarette smoking, a habit that has been attributed to environmental factors such as poor socioeconomic status, stress, lowered self-esteem, and lack of proper parental guidance, among others. It is for these reasons that reinforcements of preventive measures are warranted (Liu et al., 2017). Factors such as anti-smoking campaigns via mass media, the introduction of smoking curricula in learning centres, restricting market opportunities for tobacco and tobacco products, and restriction on the pre-adult purchase of cigarettes can confer significant benefits.

Intervention at the School Level

This entails the introduction of teaching curricula at all learning centres that are targeted at passing information on the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. This may be in the form of tutorials as well as peer counselling and discussion that is well articulated to ensure that the students understand clearly the detrimental effects that cigarettes have on their lives. It is also important to educate them on the importance of collective responsibility and how they can support each other in avoiding baits that may lure them into smoking cigarettes (Liu et al., 2017). All these efforts, at the school level, may prevent these students from smoking cigarettes, thus enabling them to lead a healthy life.

Warning Labels on Tobacco Packages

This is a historic initiative that dates back to 1966 in the US. It, however, presents significant benefits in reducing cigarette smoking by instilling an element of guilt in the users. With the recent introduction of prominent graphic health warning provisions, manufacturers now have to insert a harmful health effect graphic on the cigarette packages to eliminate any element of obscurity that was otherwise common in the use of written labels. A combination of warning labels and graphics ensures that the users understand the harmful effects that smoking presents on their health and enables them to make an informed decision regarding use. These warnings have been found to reduce tobacco use and thereby promote good health among these individuals.

Restrictive Regulation on Tobacco Use

This can be in the form of prohibiting the use of tobacco within the confines of an organization, institution, or even a state, as well as restricting the sale of tobacco and tobacco products to minors. Such regulations are ratified in state or institutional laws and thus attract punitive actions upon their violation. In case of restriction on use in an area, hefty penalties in the form of jail terms and fines can be placed as the reward for such violations. In the case of sales to minors, the entity selling could have their business licensure revoked and jail terms dropped on them. All these actions can effectively reduce the use of cigarettes and consequently promote better health.

Mass Media Anti-Smoking Campaigns

These have historically been used in attempting to reduce cigarette smoking and have shown significant benefits in reducing smoking rates. Escalation of these efforts could offer more beneficial effects. These mass sensitizations could be in the form of television adverts, pop-up messages on websites, billboards, and radio broadcasts. The messaging on these adverts should detail the harmful effects of cigarette smoking on an individual’s health. All of these efforts could produce unmatched benefits in reducing cigarette smoking and thus promote good health.

Conclusion

Good health behaviour is necessary for maintaining the health of individuals as well as the community at large. Actions such as smoking cigarettes could present harmful effects to the individual as well as the people in their environment. Cigarette smoking has been linked to several respiratory diseases. Its harmful effects on health have necessitated efforts by health frontiers to reduce its usage. Such efforts include the imposition of smoke-free policies as well as heavy taxation in an attempt to reduce its utility among various populations.

References

Kegler, M., Lebow-Skelley, E., Lea, J., Haardörfer, R., Lefevre, A., Diggs, P., & Herndon, S. (2019). A qualitative study of the process of adoption, implementation, and enforcement of smoke-free policies in privately-owned affordable housing. BMC Public Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7404-y

Kegler, M., Lebow-Skelley, E., Lea, J., Lefevre, A., Diggs, P., Herndon, S., & Haardörfer, R. (2018). Developing Smoke-Free Policies in Public Housing: Perspectives From Early Adopters in 2 Southern States. Preventing Chronic Disease, 15. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170427

Liu, J., Zhao, S., Chen, X., Falk, E., & Albarracín, D. (2017). The influence of peer behaviour as a function of social and cultural closeness: A meta-analysis of normative influence on adolescent smoking initiation and continuation. Psychological Bulletin, 143(10), 1082-1115. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000113

Mayne, S., Jacobs, D., Schreiner, P., Widome, R., Gordon‐Larsen, P., & Kershaw, K. (2018). Associations of Smoke‐Free Policies in Restaurants, Bars, and Workplaces With Blood Pressure Changes in the CARDIA Study. Journal Of The American Heart Association, 7(23). https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.118.009829

Parks, M., Kingsbury, J., Boyle, R., & Choi, K. (2017). Behavioural change in response to a statewide tobacco tax increase and differences across socioeconomic status. Addictive Behaviors, 73, 209-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.05.019

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In the module readings, the Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommends smoke-free policies and tobacco price increase strategies to be effective in reducing tobacco use and increasing tobacco cessation among military communities. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss your position in a 3-page paper.

Health behavior-Research Findings and Recommendations

The following items in particular will be assessed:

Discuss whether you agree or disagree with the findings that smoke-free policies and increasing tobacco prices will reduce tobacco use among military communities.
Defend your position by providing empirical evidence.
Based on the required readings and your own research, what strategies do you think are effective in reducing tobacco use and maintaining a healthy lifestyle among this group?