The relationship between smoking and poverty

There is a great relationship between smoking and poverty since many smokers are poor. It is therefore recommended that more job opportunities be created to help the poor people be busy hence avoiding this habit. Introduction A community whose demographic scale is composed of low-income earners and the unemployed young population is vulnerable to smoking habits. Smoking associated diseases and illness such as lung cancer, bronchitis, colon cancer, mouth cancer, emphysema and others are the leading killer diseases in the USA that can be prevented. Poor neighborhoods in the society are the major targets of the cigarettes manufacturers (Cantrell et al, 2015). Therefore, many people in East Orange New Jersey find themselves in smoking habit due to poverty life. The findings will be of importance to American Public Health Association and other health agencies including the government.

Additionally, results are of importance to the society in general since they highlight the causes that lead to smoking habit among people living in poverty areas and the ways that can be employed to cut the usage. Problem statement About quarter of the total population of East Orange NJ lives below the poverty line and are the highest vulnerable group to smoking. In the community in which the low-income people live, the public health agencies which aim at reducing the smoking habit among the people has not made a great impact. According to research, many people continue to smoke simply because they can acquire cigarette only from a walking distance (Cantrell et al, 2015). Cigarettes are available in pieces hence making it easier for the low-income smokers to continue purchasing at low prices.

Lack of access to education also contributes to the high rate of cigarette smoking. Those who have not attended higher institutions of learning such as colleges and the universities are found to be vulnerable to smoking than those who have attended (Kim & Tsoh, 2016). Those who have not attended colleges tend to smoke cigarette because they lack education and proper counseling concerning the consequences of cigarette smoking. Due to the addiction to cigarette smoking, many people tend to forgo basic needs such as clothing, food and appropriate housing to save money for smoking. Those who are addicted to cigarettes find it difficult to do any work without smoking hence forgoing all other domestic requirement so that they may acquire cigarette (Tessar, 2015). Due to this factor, children are exposed to poor living conditions such as poor diet, lack of school fees and some even develop long-term depression (Agaku et al, 2014).

There is a great likelihood of children whose parents smoke the cigarette to start smoking due to influence they get from their parents. Poverty exposes many people to live in more disadvantaged communities and thus smoking expenditure increases the burden making the living conditions worse (Tessar, 2015). For instance, the cultural center should enable the many to be more active in event and avoid smoking. Moreover, the library should be utilized fully to keep the minds busy who could be thinking of smoking (Cantrell et al, 2015). It is evidently that smoking is a habit that is prompted by certain influential forces in the society. Nonetheless, most of the driving forces are generated by economic constraints and lack of fundamental information regarding health facts. Statistics reveals that, economic costs associated with smoking stands at 2 trillion dollars per annum globally, this is substantially huge amount of capital, which can be harnessed to ventures that are more lucrative (Bee, 2012).

Nurses have the ability to offer education on public health to the victims of cigarettes in fact; they can easily manipulate the smokers to change their behavior by enumerating facts about smoking. Clinical nursing practices encompass services such as: consultation, patient education about illness and prevention, treatment and follow-up services. These professionals offer the above services at a subsidized cost at the public health centers to the victims of smoking. Also, they offer guidance and counseling services to the victims hence helping in curbing the effects of smoking. Thus the nurses are key party in mitigating smoking habits. A. Dube, S. R. Current cigarette smoking among adults- United States, 2005-2012. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(2), 29-34. M. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality and prevalence: the associations with smoking and poverty—a BOLD analysis.

Thorax, thoraxjnl-2013. Cantrell, J. Anesetti‐Rothermel, A. Tsoh, J. Y. Peer Reviewed: Cigarette Smoking Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Young Adults in Association With Food Insecurity and Other Factors.  Preventing chronic disease, 13. Tessa Langley (2017).