Gender and the smoking behaviour of Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present descriptive data on gender and smoking among Ethiopian immigrants in Toronto, Canada. The study used a cross-sectional epidemiological survey design (N = 342). The main outcome measures identified subjects as current (regular or occasional) smokers, daily smokers and former smokers. Overall, 20.8% of the individuals in the sample were current smokers and 15.7% were daily smokers. Although smoking rates (current and daily) were significantly higher among males compared to females, nearly twice as many female as male daily smokers reported that they began smoking post-migration (60.0% vs. 30.2%). Furthermore, 80.0% of female compared to nearly 56% of male daily smokers reported that they were smoking more post-migration. A significantly higher proportion of males compared to females were former daily smokers (17.8% vs. 4.4%). These findings present a challenge for public health professionals in terms of preventing the adoption of smoking among Ethiopian females and facilitating smoking cessation among Ethiopian males. Correlates with current smoking suggested that smoking prevention and cessation programs in newcomer immigrant communities may benefit from incorporating social, economic and religious contexts of these newcomers' lives from a gender-specific perspective.