62% of white-collar workers smoke

By Na Jeong-ju

White-collar workers smoke more than blue-collar workers, a survey showed Thursday.

According to the survey conducted by Kim Sung-roul, a health science professor at Soonchunhyang University, 62.6 percent of young adult men working in services and sales are smokers.

This compares with 62.2 percent in crafts and machine operation and 50.9 percent for those engaged in the agricultural, fishery and forest industries.

The survey was conducted on 9,283 workers aged between 19 and 34 from 2008 to 2010.

“We conducted this research to see if there is an association between smoking and occupations,” Kim said. “The survey showed that there are more smokers among white-collar workers than among blue-collar workers.”

He said the implementation of smoke-free policies in workplaces has been far from satisfactory because smoking is associated with drinking and stress levels.

In the case of female smokers, 23 percent of those involved in the services industry were smokers, compared to 6.5 percent for managers and professionals, 9.5 percent for crafts and machine operation and 16.7 percent for agricultural, fisheries and forest industries.

“The survey shows there should be tailored anti-smoking campaigns for workers from different industries to boost the effectiveness of the government’s policies,” Kim said.

The survey results were published in the latest edition of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health, a quarterly that focuses on health issues in the region.

The smoking rate of Korean adults has continued to drop in recent years.

According to a report from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, males in their 30s had the highest smoking rate of 48 percent as of January, down from 50 percent a year earlier. The smoking rate of males in their 60s showed the largest drop of 9.8 percentage points to 16 percent during the same period.

Nearly six out of every 10 smokers said they have the intention of quitting smoking, the report said.