ABHA: A number of Saudi females, especially the younger generation, feel that puffing away a cigarette or getting hooked on hookah are no more a man’s privilege alone. This is evident from the views expressed by some female smokers in a recent interview.

“I smoke because it is considered as a sort of prestige; it is a trend,” said Masha’el Al Harby, a high school student.

“Coffee shops nowadays have a variety of tobacco flavors and hookah shapes that attract females,” she said.

“So every time I inhale smoke, it gives me the strength of a man.”

She, however, confessed that it was rather difficult for her to smoke in the presence of her parents.

A recent study by the Ministry of Health revealed that 16 percent of female students in Saudi Arabia had tried smoking in their lives — 11 percent use tobacco, 7.2 percent are smokers and 9.9 percent use other types of tobacco products.

The percentage of Hookah smokers among Saudi female students is estimated at about 3.7, according to the study.

The figures only indicate that female smokers are simply not ready to stub it out and that more steps are required to wean them away from this harmful habit.

Nawal, a university student, said, “I smoke due to home and university pressure. I don’t care about criticism.”

Khuloud, another female smoker, said, “I smoke whenever I meet with my friends. Smoking is natural despite its rejection by society.”

Mahmoud Kasnawi, a sociologist in Umm Al-Qura University, said there are no accurate statistics about female smokers in Saudi Arabia.

However, efforts by the Ministry of Health and the opening of a number of anti-smoking centers in different regions indicate the prevalence of smoking among women.

“There are social consequences for smoking females; there is a negative association connected with smoking in the medical, economic or psychological context,” he said. “This disorder is a result of a lack of confidence or interest, especially among teenaged girls. Furthermore, imitation and peer pressure drives women to buy tobacco dazzling bags.”

Dr. Sabah Zuhar, a social worker at Saudi German Hospital, said smoking among women has become a phenomenon; it is found among many university students.

About 70 percent of females smoke because they watched their mothers doing it when they were young and wanted to imitate them, she said.

Additionally, the universities’ lecture system helps students to go out in their free time, which is misused by some of the females to smoke.”

Manal Jamjom, dental expert at Riyadh Military Hospital, said smoking greatly harms teeth, gums, jawbone and mouth tissues.

Many oral changes like color could occur, besides severe infections that may lead to osteoporosis and ulcers that precede mouth cancer, said the expert.

Dr. Hisham Tawfiq, an ENT consultant, warns about the side-effects of hookah.

He said that it is equivalent to around 20 cigarettes, and inflicts more harm than cigarettes because of the coal content and its effect on lungs.