If you’ve ever smoked (hi!) you know that it’s a powerful addiction and tough to kick. Like, I think quitting smoking was harder than giving birth to either of my children and/or the recovery from c-sections. The only reason I have not started again is remembering how completely heinous quitting was and never, ever wanting to do that again. EV-ER.
Thank God I did that before my kids were born, because it turns out that kids in smoking households are almost twice more likely than kids in nonsmoking households to be underfed and undernourished.
My first response on seeing that was “hell yes, have you SEEN the cost of a pack of smokes these days?” but in all seriousness, yikes. This article said that low income smoking households spend between 2 percent and 20 percent of their income on tobacco.
I like to think I am a better person than that, that if it was food for the kids or another pack of smokes, I’d find a way to quit. But when I remember how nicotine cravings felt like rats nibbling at my skin, I don’t know. And according to the article, parents seem to be more likely to go without food themselves than to deprive their kids, which means while their kids may be undernourished the parents are literally smoking themselves into starvation.
What helped me quit was using every damn thing at my disposal – online support, phone support, drugs, and lots and lots of bitching. Lower income people may not have those things available to them. I’m not sure if I know what the solution is, but certainly boosting food aid and making sure everybody can get help to quit are two good starts.
