Choosing a Cigarette Brand: Determining the Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers Using Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information can help smokers make informed decisions, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this article, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information that counters industry claims about reduced-risk cigarettes. We find that this information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies touting reduced-risk cigarettes, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to this marketing information.experimental auctions, field experiments, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, C93, M31,

The Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers: Evidence from Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information, which helps counter potentially biased marketing information, can fill this void, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this paper, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information to smokers. We find that countermarketing information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to marketing informationfield auctions, value of information, cigarettes, Consumer/Household Economics, Health Economics and Policy,

Association between health behaviours and religion in Austrian high school pupils:A cross-sectional survey

The prevalence of risk factors for chronic diseases such as smoking, alcohol abuse, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and lack of physical activity is high among young adults. Health behaviours are influenced by many factors and also by religious orientation, as American studies show. The aim of the present study was to explore whether a similar association with religion exists in Austria (Europe). A cross-sectional survey was carried out in seven randomly selected high schools, whereby a total of 225 11th-grade pupils (64% girls, 36% boys; average age 16.4 years) were surveyed by means of an online questionnaire. The study reveals a positive association between religion and healthy food choices as well as meal patterns. Smoking (number of cigarettes smoked daily) and alcohol consumption (getting drunk) was negatively associated with religion. These negative associations remained after adjusting for confounding factors using logistic regression analysis. Thus, the study showed that religion is associated with a reduction in these risky health behaviours in Austrian high school pupils. However, due to the limitations of the study design, causality cannot be inferred

Parental smoking and child poverty in the UK: an analysis of national survey data

BACKGROUND: In 2011/12 approximately 2.3 million children, 17% of children in the UK, were estimated to be in relative poverty. Cigarette smoking is expensive and places an additional burden on household budgets, and is strongly associated with socioeconomic deprivation. The aim of this study was to provide an illustrative first estimate of the extent to which parental smoking exacerbates child poverty in the UK. METHODS: Findings from the 2012 Households Below Average Income report and the 2012 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey were combined to estimate the number of children living in poor households containing smokers; the expenditure of typical smokers in these households on tobacco; and the numbers of children drawn into poverty if expenditure on smoking is subtracted from household income. RESULTS: 1.1 million children - almost half of all children in poverty - were estimated to be living in poverty with at least one parent who smokes; and a further 400,000 would be classed as being in poverty if parental tobacco expenditure were subtracted from household income. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking exacerbates poverty for a large proportion of children in the UK. Tobacco control interventions which effectively enable low income smokers to quit can play an important role in reducing the financial burden of child poverty

The Value of Countermarketing Information to Smokers: Evidence from Field Auctions

Information about cigarettes can help smokers come to an informed decision about what cigarettes to purchase. Countermarketing information, which helps counter potentially biased marketing information, can fill this void, but little is known about the value of this information to smokers. In this paper, we use data from experimental auctions to estimate the value of countermarketing information to smokers. We find that countermarketing information has significant value to smokers who have been exposed to marketing information from tobacco companies, but we find no evidence it provides value to smokers not exposed to marketing informatio

Social Integration and the Mental Health of Black Adolescents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106936/1/cdev12182.pd

Self-Reported Exposure to Policy and Environmental Influences on Smoking Cessation and Relapse: A 2-Year Longitudinal Population-based Study

Although most smokers want to quit, the long-term success rate of quit attempts remains low; research is needed to understand the policy and environmental influences that can increase the success of cessation efforts. This paper uses regression methods to investigate self-reported exposure to policy and environmental influences on quit attempts, maintenance of a quit attempt for at least 6 months, and relapse in a longitudinal population-based sample, the New York Adult Cohort Survey, followed for 12 months (N = 3,261) and 24 months (N = 1,142). When policy or environmental influence variables were assessed independently of other policy or environmental influence variables, many were significant for at least some of the cessation outcomes. In the full models that included a full set of policy or environmental influence variables, many significant associations became nonsignificant. A number of policies may have an influence on multiple cessation outcomes. However, the effect varies by cessation outcome, and statistical significance is influenced by model specification

E-cigarette Product Preferences among Adult Smokers: A Discrete Choice Experiment

ObjectivesIn this study, we used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted August-October 2017 to examine electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) product preferences in a national sample of adult smokers (N = 1154) who were also using ENDS or had not ruled out future use.MethodsThe DCE evaluated 5 ENDS attributes: relative harm; effectiveness for helping smokers quit; nicotine strength; flavor; and price. We asked participants to choose among their own cigarettes, 2 ENDS products whose attributes varied across tasks, or none. We analyzed ENDS preferences using multinomial, nested, and mixed logit regressions.ResultsSmokers preferred ENDS that are less harmful than cigarettes, are effective in helping smokers quit, are lower priced, and are not menthol-flavored. The marginal willingness to pay for an ENDS product was $8.40 when less harmful than cigarettes,$4.13 when of unknown effectiveness in helping quitting ($13.90 when effective), and$3.37 when ENDS are not menthol-flavored. Furthermore, the overall flavor preference is driven by tobacco smokers, not by menthol cigarette smokers who do prefer menthol-flavored ENDS.ConclusionsPolicies that affect perceptions of ENDS effectiveness in promoting cessation and their relative harm may alter smokers' ENDS preferences. Regulating flavors and price also may influence adult smokers' ENDS preference

The use of measures of obesity in childhood for predicting obesity and the development of obesity-related diseases in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: It is uncertain which simple measures of childhood obesity are best for predicting future obesity-related health problems and the persistence of obesity into adolescence and adulthood. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the ability of simple measures, such as body mass index (BMI), to predict the persistence of obesity from childhood into adulthood and to predict obesity-related adult morbidities. To investigate how accurately simple measures diagnose obesity in children, and how acceptable these measures are to children, carers and health professionals. DATA SOURCES: Multiple sources including MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library were searched from 2008 to 2013. METHODS: Systematic reviews and a meta-analysis were carried out of large cohort studies on the association between childhood obesity and adult obesity; the association between childhood obesity and obesity-related morbidities in adulthood; and the diagnostic accuracy of simple childhood obesity measures. Study quality was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) and a modified version of the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) tool. A systematic review and an elicitation exercise were conducted on the acceptability of the simple measures. RESULTS: Thirty-seven studies (22 cohorts) were included in the review of prediction of adult morbidities. Twenty-three studies (16 cohorts) were included in the tracking review. All studies included BMI. There were very few studies of other measures. There was a strong positive association between high childhood BMI and adult obesity [odds ratio 5.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.50 to 6.02]. A positive association was found between high childhood BMI and adult coronary heart disease, diabetes and a range of cancers, but not stroke or breast cancer. The predictive accuracy of childhood BMI to predict any adult morbidity was very low, with most morbidities occurring in adults who were of healthy weight in childhood. Predictive accuracy of childhood obesity was moderate for predicting adult obesity, with a sensitivity of 30% and a specificity of 98%. Persistence of obesity from adolescence to adulthood was high. Thirty-four studies were included in the diagnostic accuracy review. Most of the studies used the least reliable reference standard (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry); only 24% of studies were of high quality. The sensitivity of BMI for diagnosing obesity and overweight varied considerably; specificity was less variable. Pooled sensitivity of BMI was 74% (95% CI 64.2% to 81.8%) and pooled specificity was 95% (95% CI 92.2% to 96.4%). The acceptability to children and their carers of BMI or other common simple measures was generally good. LIMITATIONS: Little evidence was available regarding childhood measures other than BMI. No individual-level analysis could be performed. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood BMI is not a good predictor of adult obesity or adult disease; the majority of obese adults were not obese as children and most obesity-related adult morbidity occurs in adults who had a healthy childhood weight. However, obesity (as measured using BMI) was found to persist from childhood to adulthood, with most obese adolescents also being obese in adulthood. BMI was found to be reasonably good for diagnosing obesity during childhood. There is no convincing evidence suggesting that any simple measure is better than BMI for diagnosing obesity in childhood or predicting adult obesity and morbidity. Further research on obesity measures other than BMI is needed to determine which is the best tool for diagnosing childhood obesity, and new cohort studies are needed to investigate the impact of contemporary childhood obesity on adult obesity and obesity-related morbidities. STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013005711. FUNDING: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme

Examining the role of menthol cigarettes in progression to established T smoking among youth

Background: Menthol, a flavoring compound added to cigarettes, makes cigarettes more appealing to youth and inexperienced smokers and increases cigarettes\u27 abuse liability. However, limited studies are available on menthol\u27s role in smoking progression. Methods: To assess the association between menthol in cigarettes and progression to established smoking, we used five waves of data from the Evaluation of Public Education Campaign on Teen Tobacco Cohort Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of U.S. youth conducted as part of “The Real Cost” evaluation. We used discrete time survival analysis to model the occurrence of two event outcomes—progression to established, current smoking and progression to established, frequent smoking—using a logit model with a menthol use indicator as the key explanatory variable. Based on this framework, we estimated the effect of prior menthol use on the odds of smoking progression. Results: In the progression to established, current smoking model, prior menthol use was significantly associated with progression [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.80, p \u3c .05, confidence interval (CI) = (1.03–3.16)]. While results were in a similar direction for the model of progression to established, frequent smoking, the association between prior menthol use and this progression model did not reach significance [aOR=1.56, CI = (0.80–3.03)]. Conclusion: The results suggest a relationship between using menthol cigarettes and progression from experi- mental to established, current smoking among youth. This study adds to a growing literature base that supports that menthol cigarettes, compared to nonmenthol cigarettes, put youth at increased risk for regular cigarette use