TRENDS IN UPTAKE AND QUITTING SMOKING IN EUROPE

Smoking prevalence decreased in most countries of the European region from 1987 to 1994. The decrease was mainly due to the decrease of smok ing among males. Smoking among females increased in some southern, cen tral, and eastern European countries. Smoking habits differed from reg ion to region in Europe. Smoking prevalence rates of men and women wer e very similar in Nordic countries, but varied widely in central, east ern, and southern Europe. In the European Union, one person in five wa s an ex-smoker and more than half of the current smokers said they wis hed to stop or cut down on their smoking. It is worrying that smoking prevalence among youngsters did not decrease more and even increased i n several countries of Europe.