Smoking: The leading risk factor among Filipinos

• Thirty-five out 100 Filipinos (34.8%) are cigarette smokers, according to the 2003-2004 National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHeS) conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Tecnology (FNRI-DOST).


• Smoking is reportedly the most prevalent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke among Filipinos, and accounts for abou 28,694 deaths in 2006. Four other leading rik factors of cardiovascular disease by rank are: hypertension; obesity; hypercholesterolemia; and diabetes. The estimated number of deaths caused by these diseases ae: 14,015; 8,046; 5,730; and 4,148 respectively.


• Despite anti-smoking campaigns by the Department of Health (DOH) and other medical organizations, more than half (56.3%) of male adults are smokers. Furthermore the pevalence in adult male smokers even increased from 53.8 percent in 1998 to 56.3 percent. For adult female smokers, the prevalence was slightly reduced from 12.6 percent to 12.1 percent.


• According to Dr. Dante D. Morales, past president of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) and NNHeS overall chairman, more Filipinos smoke compared to Singaporeans (24.2%) and Americans (24.1%). He added that the nicotine in cigarettes causes heart enlargement which makes a person more at risk of CVD and other atherosclerotic diseases.