New Zealand Herald, Martin Johnston, June 24, 2010 Share
Wiping virtually all branding off cigarette and tobacco packets could prove crucial in turning teenagers off smoking, a New Zealand study indicates.
Australia is the first country to announce a plan to force tobacco into plain packaging with large pictorial health warnings – a move the industry says it will fight. From 2012, the only remnant of branding would be the name of the product, in uniform print. Gone would be the colours and attractive pictures.
“I think it would be hugely powerful for …

January 07, 2010 | By Jennifer Gibson

Considerable improvements have been made in the health of the population of the United States in the last three decades owing to healthy living interventions, specifically a reduction in smoking. However, during the same period, substantial increases in the incidence of overweight and obesity have adversely impacted the health of the same population. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reports that the negative effects of the obesity epidemic, if it continues, will virtually destroy the positive gains made by smoking …

Sarah Klein, Health.com, December 3, 2009
Although fewer people are smoking — and therefore less likely to die from cigarette-related causes — the obesity epidemic may negate any gains in life span, according to a new study.
By 2020, the typical 18-year-old will gain 0.31 years due to the drop in smoking rates (above and beyond life span increases caused by other factors). But the increase in obesity rates during the same period will reduce life expectancy by 1.02 years, the researchers say.
During the next 10 years, in other words, we’ll …

The New York Times
Pam Belluck – October 15 2009
Bans on smoking in places like restaurants, offices and public buildings reduce cases of heart attacks and heart disease, according to a report released Thursday by a federally commissioned panel of scientists.
The report, issued by the Institute of Medicine, concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke significantly increased the risk of a heart attackamong both smokers and nonsmokers. The panel also said it found that a reduction in heart problems began fairly quickly after a smoking ban was instituted and that exposure to low or fleeting levels …

Cigarette packages should include images of sickness and suffering caused by tobacco, along with written warnings, the World Health Organization said Friday.
The U.N. agency urged governments to make people more aware of the health consequences of smoking. It said most countries still do not warn consumers of the risks on packages of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco.
“Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives,” said Dr. Ala Alwan, a senior WHO official. “Warnings that include images of the harm …