As many as one in seven people in Brighton and Hove could make quitting their new year’s resolution, according to health chiefs.
They said that 13.9 per cent of the area’s adults were smoking in 2020 – above the national average of 12.1 per cent.
The smokers included one in ten women in the area (10.1 per cent) and almost one in six men (17.8 per cent).
More than half of the adults living in Brighton and Hove (51.2 per cent) have never smoked.
But more than one in three of the local population are former smokers (34.8 per cent).
When it comes to quitting, more men than women reported to have been able to kick the habit – 33.4 per cent of adult female smokers and 36.4 per cent of males.
The government has started a campaign to encourage people to stop smoking in 2022, as new research found that teens whose parents smoked were far more likely to pick up the habit.
Analysis by Better Health Smoke Free suggested that 4.9 per cent of young teenagers whose caregivers smoked also smoked regularly, compared with 1.2 per cent of those whose caregivers did not.
Nick Hopkinson, from Imperial College London, said: “Our research findings are clear – adult smoking has a tangible impact on children.
“Children whose caregivers smoke are four times as likely to take up smoking themselves.”
Professor Hopkinson added: “The most effective way to help prevent this would be for adults to quit smoking.
“Clearly not only does this have enormous benefits for them but it will also benefit their children both now and in later life.”
