Long Working Hours Linked to Increased Smoking

For long health experts have warned us against the hazards of smoking and tobacco consumption. Not only does smoking lead to chronic ailments, but it may also cause psychological problems. Excessive smoking shatters your metabolism and plays with internal body clock. Recently, a study conducted by the researchers from the Loughborough University in Britain have found a link between long working hours and your smoking habits.According to their research, those who over-work or work for extremely long hours, crossing the limit of 40 hours per week, are more likely to start smoking. The study also claims that working for long hours makes former smokers more prone to a relapse."When smokers increase their hours above a typical 40-hour working week, the chances they will successfully give up smoking fall. They become progressively less likely to give up as their working hours increase," explained Professor Andy Charlwood.Researchers reviewed the smoking behaviour of more than 20,000 people over a period of about 19 years. The results showed that people who increased their working week from 40 to 60-plus hours were less than half as likely to quit smoking as someone who stayed on a 40-hour week."Even if people like their jobs and choose to work long hours, we tend to experience more stress and less pleasure at work than we do when undertaking most other day-to-day activities," Charlwood added.Because smokers experience smoking as a pleasurable and stress-relieving activity, the additional stress of working long hours is likely to increase the craving for cigarettes. The paper appeared in the journal Social Science & Medicine.Inputs from IANS