Tobacco hooks Cambodian moms
Source: Agencies |
December 4, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN pregnant Cambodian women suffer morning sickness, they often reach for an unlikely source of relief: a wad of chewing tobacco.
Many become hooked, and the World Health Organization warned yesterday it is a tradition putting the health of both mothers and babies at risk.
The largest tobacco survey ever conducted in Cambodia found that about half of all women older than 48 regularly chew tobacco, and about one in five rural women first took up the habit during pregnancy, to soothe their prenatal nausea.
The survey conducted by WHO and other researchers found that midwives are the country's biggest users of smokeless tobacco, with 68 percent chewing it. Traditional female healers use it too.
"Chewing tobacco appears to be strongly influenced by beliefs passed on by older relatives," said lead author Dr Pramil N. Singh, from Loma Linda University in California.
As with pregnant women who smoke, those who chew tobacco also put their babies at risk for problems such as low birth weight, decreased lung function and stillbirth.
"Some start chewing tobacco when they get pregnant to cope with morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy," said Dr Mom Kong, director of the nonprofit Cambodia Movement for Health. "But some women get addicted while using it during the pregnancy."
Many become hooked, and the World Health Organization warned yesterday it is a tradition putting the health of both mothers and babies at risk.
The largest tobacco survey ever conducted in Cambodia found that about half of all women older than 48 regularly chew tobacco, and about one in five rural women first took up the habit during pregnancy, to soothe their prenatal nausea.
The survey conducted by WHO and other researchers found that midwives are the country's biggest users of smokeless tobacco, with 68 percent chewing it. Traditional female healers use it too.
"Chewing tobacco appears to be strongly influenced by beliefs passed on by older relatives," said lead author Dr Pramil N. Singh, from Loma Linda University in California.
As with pregnant women who smoke, those who chew tobacco also put their babies at risk for problems such as low birth weight, decreased lung function and stillbirth.
"Some start chewing tobacco when they get pregnant to cope with morning sickness in the first trimester of pregnancy," said Dr Mom Kong, director of the nonprofit Cambodia Movement for Health. "But some women get addicted while using it during the pregnancy."
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