A matter of will ...
Cherri Greeno | January 14, 2015
New research from the University of Waterloo explains why our brains often fail to turn intention into action, and why this gap can be overcome. read more »
Minty but deadly
August 25, 2014
Teens who use menthol cigarettes smoke more cigarettes – an average of 43 per week – than youth who use non-menthols, a new Waterloo study has found.
“Our findings indicate that youth smoking of menthol cigarettes is a serious concern. It’s clear moving forward that we need new laws to ban all added flavours in all tobacco products,” said Sunday Azagba, lead author on a paper published in Cancer Causes and Control.
The findings from the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo found that non-menthol users smoke an average of 26 cigarettes per week. The study marks the first time that menthol cigarettes have been directly linked to elevated nicotine addiction among youth in Canada.
“The appeal of menthol cigarettes among youth stems from the perception that they are less harmful than regular cigarettes. The minty taste helps mask the noxious properties, but the reality is that they are just as dangerous as any unflavoured cigarette,” said Azagba, a scientist at Propel.
The study also found that menthol smokers were almost three times more likely to report that they intend to continue smoking in the next year.
In spite of the well-documented health risks associated with tobacco use, almost one in 10 Canadian high school students from Grades 10 to 12 are current smokers. Research shows that the majority of long-term adult smokers start smoking during their adolescence. The national Youth Smoking Survey has found that 32 per cent of smokers in high school smoke menthols.
Teens may start smoking with menthol cigarettes
“There is a growing concern that the high popularity of menthol cigarettes among youth may hinder the recent progress in preventing other young people from smoking because many of them may experiment with menthol rather than unflavoured brands,” said Azagba.
In July 2010, Canada implemented a ban on the sale of most flavoured cigarettes, little cigars and blunt wraps, but not menthol. Alberta is the only province to include a ban on menthol cigarettes in provincial legislation, though it is not yet in force. In April 2014, the European Union (EU) adopted a new Tobacco Products Directive that will see all 28 EU countries implement a ban on menthol cigarettes.
The Canadian Cancer Society funded the study, which examined a nationally representative sample of 4,736 smokers in Canadian high schools drawn from Health Canada’s 2010-2011 Youth Smoking Survey.
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Noreen Fagan | December 18, 2014
Here’s a fun fact – Canadians eat more sushi than the Japanese. At least that’s what Mark Cleveland says, and he should know. Cleveland is a professor of marketing at Western University. His research focuses on the integration of cultures on a global scale and the effects of cosmopolitanism, which according to Cleveland is, “the cultural openness and the ability to successfully navigate between different cultural groups.” In other words, people who want to understand and experience other cultures do so by fully immersing themselves in that culture. “You want to live the life of cultural authenticity, by trying to understand the culture through that culture’s eyes,” he says. Cleveland’s interest in cultural openness started when he was a Master’s and then a Ph.D. student at Concordia University in Montreal. He started researching how new immigrants, primarily ethic minorities, adapted to Canadian culture by finding ways to combine their traditional identities, culture and values into mainstream society. “I have always believed that just because you learn another culture does not mean you give up the original culture. You can be bicultural or multicultural and the two can reinforce each other,” says Cleveland. “Not only are minorities affected by cultural exchange but the majority are as well.” Canada’s multiculturalism prompted Cleveland to extend his research into globalization, with a focus on how global cultures affect majority populations around the world. In the last decade Cleveland has conducted research in 15 to 20 countries exploring cultural exchange and cosmopolitanism. He says a person no longer has to travel abroad – although it helps – to become cosmopolitan. A person can experience different cultures in the comfort of their own home or neighbourhood, simply by watching TV, surfing the Internet, playing videos on You Tube or buying and consuming different products. “When we buy products, and types of brands and the reasons for buying them, they are like extensions of ourselves,” he says. So how do the sushi–eating Canadians fit into all of this? Cleveland believes if a person wants to experience cultural authenticity they will gear their shopping towards achieving that aim. In other words, a person is not going to go for the North American version of sushi (think Californian Roll), when they can get the real thing – think Unagi. He says there is probably a general global trend towards cultural openness as people become more educated and have more exposure to other cultures but he warns, there is another side. “A lot of people are really opposed to what is happening with Globalization and they see their culture as under threat,” says Cleveland adding that the threat is heightened when people feel insecure. If people are feeling secure in their surroundings (financially, emotionally and physically), the more open they are to cultural exchange and the more cosmopolitan they become. Being cosmopolitan however, does not mean buying local is a thing of the past; in fact what makes cosmopolitans stand out is that they strive for cultural authenticity. “The more cosmopolitan you are means you are not only interested in preserving differences but also interested in the environment, like getting the best locally,” says Cleveland. In terms of cosmopolitanism Cleveland thinks Canadians are more accepting of other cultures. “We are a new country, most of us go back two or three generations and have one or two grandparents born somewhere else. We have a more fluid identity,” he says, adding that as large cities go, Toronto is well integrated. “We are not just living in these areas dominated by our own ethic group, there are more opportunities to mix, and I think that allows us to become more open-minded.”
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