Most of teenagers usually start smoking when they are stressed or discriminated, a recent study found. As many all of us know, stress is what we have when life gives us challenges. Even happy events can be stressful.

Researchers also discovered that especially minority teen boys smoke more when they suffer discrimination, but that’s not the case for minority teen girls.

In general, discrimination had no effect on smoking rates among minority girls aged 12 to 15 and was bound with lower rates of tobacco use among minority teen girls aged 16 to 19.

Dr. Sarah Wiehe, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said: “Our findings in girls, especially in the older girls, actually surprised us. We do not understand why older girls, who realized discrimination, were less likely to smoke, but there may be a probability that they perceived discrimination because they were pregnant and also that they did not smoke due to pregnancy.”

The study investigated 2,561 black and Hispanic teens, aged 12 to 19, living in low-income households in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New Yor. At the end of investigation was found that about 25 percent of the teenagers reported discrimination within the previous six months, and 12 percent said they had smoked within the previous 30 days.

People differ in how often they deal with stress, and how they respond to it. Some people have more stress in their lives than others. Some people also react more to stress than others. But increased smoking by boys who suffer higher levels of discrimination may be caused by increased stress from male-specific targeting by police and business, the study found.

“Boys and girls may experience discrimination differently, depending where they spend their time. We need to be aware that discrimination is a public health problem especially for adolescents, one connected to major health issues like smoking, and need to actively work to decrease these incidences,” Wiehe explained.

Researchers added that people who have a lot of stress tend to have a harder time quitting smoking. This is also true for people who are disposed to negative moods, such as sadness and anxiety.

By Sara Norton, Staff Writer. Copyright © 2010 Cigarette-Store.org All rights reserved.