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Written By: Agencies | Published : April 9, 2015 10:08 AM IST
Irrespective of what a few parliamentarians in India believe, larger health warnings on tobacco packages are effective in deterring people from smoking. The Government of India recently deferred the move of issuing 85% pictorial warnings on packages of all forms of tobacco. A few MPs also dared to say that tobacco use does not cancer, and there's no Indian study to prove it. (Read: Shocking BJP MP says smoking doesn t cause cancer!)
Here's one more reason for the government to think about its move of bringing a stay on issuing of pictorial warnings on tobacco products.
According to a new study, pictorial warnings depicting the dangers of smoking may be more effective is curbing tobacco use. According to the researchers, there's enough evidence that graphic warnings like labels that show people dying in hospital beds, facial scars, rotting teeth and diseased body parts, are effective in motivating smokers to quit the habit. However, there's not enough research on the number of individuals who that learn their lessons from these labels. (Read:Do pictorial warnings on cigarette packets work?)
Researcher, Renee Magnan from the Washington State University, Vancouver, believes that more focus should be on understanding the warning labels. As, labels that convey true consequences of smoking may not only influence motivation directly, both in terms of quitting and prevention of smoking but also drive the emotional experience of the label, which they know is an important predictor of motivation.
The results of their study suggest that the more understandable and informative the labels, the more likely people will worry about the consequences of smoking and, ultimately, be discouraged from doing it. Although this is a preliminary investigation, from a policy perspective, these outcomes suggest that focusing on deriving greater understanding and knowledge from such labels may have more impact in terms of both motivational and emotional responses, Magnan said. Magnan noted that importantly, however, these labels are only a small piece of what should be a larger campaign to educate the public on the dangers of smoking.
The study appears online in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
(Read: 10 things that helped me survive the incredibly tough two months of quitting smoking)
Image source: Getty Images
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