When it comes to smoking, smokers often seem to have
deaf ears. Whatever they are told or requested or warned, their habit of
smoking seems really hard to pull off. However, since the rule to display
graphical warnings on cigarette packets has been put into place, has there been
any deterring behaviour? Have the visual warnings led to any per cent of
demotivation in the smokers? Studies say yes.
In first-of-its-kind law in India, courts made it compulsory for cigarette brands to carry horrific visual graphic warning labels (GWLs) on cigarette packs. In fact, till today, over 65 countries carry such warnings because they have been proved to reduce smoking rates.
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death throughout the world, including India.
The idea was proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mays and colleagues conducted a study to map the impact and biological mechanisms that explained why and how GWLs impacted smokers to think of the health consequences of smoking.
The team took 19 current smokers aged 18 to 30 and showed them a series of images that displayed two types of packaging. First, GWLs, consisting of a graphic and text or text-only warning labels. Second, plain cigarette packaging for four seconds each person.
The study mapped the brains of the participants through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Also, the participants had to record their willingness to quit ranging from 1 to 4 post the image viewing.
In first-of-its-kind law in India, courts made it compulsory for cigarette brands to carry horrific visual graphic warning labels (GWLs) on cigarette packs. In fact, till today, over 65 countries carry such warnings because they have been proved to reduce smoking rates.
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable death throughout the world, including India.
The idea was proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mays and colleagues conducted a study to map the impact and biological mechanisms that explained why and how GWLs impacted smokers to think of the health consequences of smoking.
The team took 19 current smokers aged 18 to 30 and showed them a series of images that displayed two types of packaging. First, GWLs, consisting of a graphic and text or text-only warning labels. Second, plain cigarette packaging for four seconds each person.
The study mapped the brains of the participants through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Also, the participants had to record their willingness to quit ranging from 1 to 4 post the image viewing.
The study concluded that GWLs were much
more successful at demotivating participants to smoke as compared to plain or
even text-only warnings. GWLs demonstrated responses in various regions in the
brain, including the amygdala and in the medial prefrontal cortex.
"The medial prefrontal region that
responded to graphic warning labels in this study has been previously
associated with self-relevant processing... When we find information to be
self-relevant, that may increase how impactful it is for our life
decisions," co-lead study author Adam Green told a website.
TOI Health team conducted a poll asking
people if GWLs made any difference for them in their decision to buy a pack. We
asked people if they would buy a cigarette pack despite the GWL on it. Of the
total 3800 respondents, 54 per cent said no, while 46 per cent said yes,
proving what the study had concluded.
Smoking causes 90 per cent of the total lung
cancer deaths in the world. It harms every organ in the body! It causes 80 per
cent deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Kick the butt
now or you won’t ever!
Source:TOI
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