Mid-life crisis

Icelandic women typically smoke less, drink to drunkenness less, and use oral tobacco less often than do Icelandic men, according to a story in the tourist publication, Reykjavik Grapevine citing the findings of a recent study by Iceland’s Directorate of Health.

At the same time, young Icelandic women vape just as often as young Icelandic men.

The study, which covered Icelandic men and women of all ages, found that the incidence of daily smoking combustible cigarettes among people 18 to 55 years of age was, at nine percent, slightly higher among men than it was among women, eight percent.

But 11 percent of women aged 55 and older reported smoking daily while seven percent of men in the same age group did so.

Meanwhile, 20 percent of Icelandic men aged 18 to 34 reported using oral tobacco daily or less often, while seven percent of women in the same age group reported oral tobacco use. Among those aged 35 to 54, five percent of men used oral tobacco while no women reported using it. No man of woman over the age of 55 reported using oral tobacco.

The incidence of vaping daily or less often among those aged 18-34 was, at 12 percent, the same for both men and women. In the 35-to-54 age bracket, the incidence of vaping among men was 11 percent while that among women was six percent. But in the case of those 55 or older, five percent of women and two percent of men said they vaped daily or less often.