PHILADELPHIA, May 30 (UPI) -- For many Korean-American immigrants, the social benefits of cigarettes may trump any health concerns, according to a U.S. study.
Grace Ma, professor of public health and director of the Center for Asian Health at Temple University in Philadelphia, studied 100 mostly first-generation Korean immigrants and others of Korean heritage who were beginning a smoking-cessation treatment program at the center.
As a group, about 69 percent had made no attempts to quit in the past three months, while 59 percent had not tried to stop smoking in the past twelve months.
Ma says few cigarette-cessation programs have targeted Asian immigrants, and many in the Asian immigrant community may lack an understanding of the health risks associated with tobacco use, which may not have been stressed in their home countries.
"Many mainstream smoking-cessation programs are not culturally appropriate to the daily life of Asian immigrants," says Ma.
He also notes that Korean-American men often initiate a conversation with the offer of a cigarette, while women ironically may take up cigarettes as they grow more attuned to American culture.
