Young in West Norfolk spurning smoking, new figures reveal

More and more young adults in West Norfolk are rejecting cigarettes and choosing not to smoke, new figures have revealed.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the percentage of West Norfolk’s population who have never smoked has risen by 51 per cent since 2011.

This is because of 18- to 24-year-olds choosing not to smoke. Nationally this age group has had the biggest drop in smoking.

Last year, across Britain, 17.8 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds said they were current smokers, compared with 2011 when more than a quarter smoked.

Deborah Arnott, Action on Smoking and Health chief executive, put this reduction down to banning tobacco advertising.

She said: “The brightly coloured pack displays we used to have in shops disappeared completely in 2015 and the packs they do see nowadays are a sludgy green colour, with large picture warnings, rather than the brightly coloured, highly-branded packs we used to have.

“Is it any wonder young people today increasingly choose not to smoke. It’s much less cool than it used to be.”

This has been helped by the rise of e-cigarettes.

The ONS estimates there are 2.8 million vapers in Britain, and almost half said their reason for taking it up was to stop smoking.

Overall the proportion of smokers in the borough has gone down since 2011. That year 22.6 per cent of West Norfolk’s population smoked, however by 2017 this figure had dropped to 15.5 per cent – somewhat above the regional average of 14.2 per cent.

Men are more likely to smoke than women in West Norfolk. Smoking rates across the country are down overall.

Ms Arnott said: “Smoking rates have fallen because over the last 20 years the Government has gone further and faster in tackling smoking. But smoking must become history for all of society, not just for the wealthy.

“Cuts in public health funding and lack of treatment for smoking on the NHS mean poorer more heavily-addicted smokers, including those who are pregnant, are not getting the help they need to quit.”

Commenting on the figures, Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said: “Smoking rates have dropped by almost a quarter in five years, a triumphant step in eliminating the nation’s biggest killer.

“The data shows we are winning the war on tobacco and that we are tantalisingly close to creating the first-ever smoke-free generation in England.

“But that war will only be won if we make more progress in helping people from deprived areas and people suffering from poor mental health, where we know smoking rates remain stubbornly high.”