Beauty Demands

In spite of public health campaigns highlighting the risks of smoking, many men and women experience difficulties with smoking cessation.  In the UK, the highest incidence for women is amongst 25-34 year olds, where 19.8% of women are regular smokers (Cancer Research UK, 2015).  Nicotine is usually identified as the key substance responsible for addition to cigarette smoking. However, psychological factors also play a vital part in smoking initiation and maintenance. Smoking in women may be linked to perceptions of body image and weight concern where fear of gaining weight may discourage smoking cessation. Women smokers tend to have a smaller waist circumference and lower body mass index than those who have never smoked (Kaufman, Augustson and Patrick., 2012). As smoking reduces the palatability of food through reductions in taste and smell, nicotine has a tendency to supress appetite and leads to a distraction from eating (Mineur et al., 2011).  On quitting smoking, appetite and

The latest figures from the Good Childhood Report suggest that 34% of girls and 20% of boys are unhappy with their appearance; the report also suggests that bullying is likely a key contributing factor. In the scientific literature, it is well documented that appearance concerns are higher amongst teenagers who have been teased about some body or facial feature, and those who are repeatedly teased in a nasty way, i.e., verbally bullied, are at higher risk of body dissatisfaction, eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder. New evidence suggests that it is not only appearance bullying that is damaging to appearance satisfaction, but that any type of victimisation by peers can be detrimental. Bullying typically includes behaviours such as hitting, kicking, name calling, social exclusion and/or the spreading of nasty rumours or lies (either in person or online), which are repeated over time. Receiving this type of abuse from peers can have profound effects on the psychological