Your Future is Not Pretty: Why young women should give up smoking for good
WE ALL know smoking is bad for your health. But have you seen what it does to your face? This is what Rachael Finch would look like if she were a smoker. Disturbing images ahead.
WE ALL know smoking is bad for your health. Forty Australians die from smoking-related illnesses every day, and contribute to more hospitalisations and deaths each year than alcohol and illicit drug use combined.
“Tobacco smoking remains one of our leading health challenges across Queensland, Australia and the world,” Dr Young from Queensland Health told news.com.au
“Because of all the action that’s occurred across the government and on a community level, the impact of smoking is slowly starting to decrease, but there’s one group where that’s not happening — and that’s among young women.
“For whatever reason, we’re seeing young women either refusing to quit, or still taking up smoking, despite knowing the risks involved. In Queensland alone, of women aged between 18 and 24, 14.6 per cent smoke. Young men by comparison are at 10.6 per cent. That’s a significant difference,” she explains.
“We did some research, and we actually asked young women what would help them stop smoking. It’s funny because they understand the health risks, but they don’t care about them, they think they can stop at any time in the future. What they are worried about, though, is their appearance.
“Smoking prematurely ages your skin, it changes your complexion, it gives you deep wrinkles particularly around the mouth, it stains your teeth and your gums and your fingers. Some of these side affects cannot be reversed. In short, your future is not pretty if you’re a smoker.”
That’s something Aussie model Rachael Finch discovered in all its ugly glory. The mum-of-one is not a smoker, but thanks to a new campaign by Queensland Health, she found out exactly how terrible she would look if she was.
“They applied makeup to my skin as though I’d been smoking for fifteen years,” Ms Finch tells news.com.au
“They lathered eyeshadow under my eyes, they made wrinkles with eye liner, they used red lip pencil as if there were broken capillaries and sun spots all over my face, they made my hair look dry and broken.
“It was definitely confronting! I looked so tired and worn. The overall affect was so surreal, it was fascinating really, but the first thing I thought was, ‘I would not like my husband to see this!’”
Tobacco smoke contains over 4000 chemicals which damage the fibres in the skin and leads to wrinkles, saggy eyelids, bags under the eyes, hair damage and premature ageing on the face. Blood flow is restricted to your capillaries if you smoke, which deprives your skin of oxygen and nutrients, and the body’s store of vitamin A — which provides protection from skin damage — is significantly reduced. Your breasts are more likely to sag prematurely if you’re a smoker, and smoking is also linked to early onset of menopause.
Queensland Health have capitalised on women’s vanity in their Your Future is Not Pretty campaign. It specifically targets young women who see physical appearance as the main driver to contemplate giving up smoking, with the hope of showing them that smoking is not attractive in more ways than one.
“Basically, we took someone and aged them to be what they’d look like if they smoke for the next 15 years, to shock people into quitting” says Dr Young of the infographic below, which they created for the campaign:
“Even though I’ve never taken up smoking, I have been aware of the damage it does to the body, and now I know exactly what it does to the face,” Ms Finch adds.
“But that’s why this campaign is exciting — it promotes such a positive change. It’s helping people to understand in a new way, that leading a healthy lifestyle is of the upmost importance,” she said.
“And although young women don’t want to hear it, I do just really want to stressthat people across Australia still die every single day from smoking related diseases. And it’s totally preventable,” adds Dr Young.
“If you smoke you have a 50 per cent chance of dying from a smoking related disease. You’re literally playing Russian roulette with your life! In any other situation you just wouldn’t put yourself in that much danger. Those deaths can be totally prevented if you quit and never smoke again.”
If you live in Queensland, you can visit pop up versions of the campaign in Brisbane, Toowoomba, the Gold Coast, Robina and Cairns. For more information on that, or for those of you looking to quit, visit www.qld.gov/quit