Most New Year smoking quitters don't last more than 24hrs

Melbourne, Jan 5 (ANI): Most smokers who make New Year's resolutions to kick the butt are unlikely to last more than 24 hours, according to a new study.

Nine out of 10 people who vow to quit smoking break their resolution in first few months, with a majority failing on the first day itself.

"Tying your quit attempt to an event such as New Year's Eve is usually not enough on its own to ensure success," the Daily Telegraph quoted GP and smoking cessation expert Dr. Colin Mendelsohn as saying.

"After quitting, smokers are exposed to a variety of temptations, such as peer pressure or simply a festive environment, which have the potential to encourage them to smoke again," he added.

According to the Galaxy research, while most Australians fail, Queenslanders were more successful in quitting.

While one in five Queenslanders smokes, they scored second for successful New Year's quit attempts after Victoria and Tasmania.

Mendelsohn advises that simply picking an arbitrary date to kick the habit is not the best way to approach the situation.

"The key thing for smokers is to choose an effective method that can help them quit rather than picking a good date to start," he said.

The study also found that two out of five women, who made the pledge either upon falling pregnant or with the birth of a child, had three times higher chance of quitting as compared to the men who made the New Year's pledge. (ANI)