Say no to smoke and bag yourself a date this Valentine’s Day

News Release
14/02/2012

Today (February 14, 2012) is the most romantic day of the year and it looks like the recipe to finding a smokin’ hot date in the South East is simple - quit smoking.

New research from the Department of Health shows that if you are looking for a date this Valentine’s Day then be sure to keep away from cigarettes if you want to increase your chances of success.

Among people polled in the South East 74% claimed they would not kiss someone who had just smoked and 76% agreed that smoking makes people less attractive.

As well as leaving a bad taste in the mouth of your date, 56% of those polled said that if they knew someone was a smoker they would think twice about starting a serious relationship. So, people who want to stay one step ahead of the game this Valentine’s Day should put an end to their habit and quit today.

This is backed up by data from the relationship sites eHarmony.co.uk, mysinglefriend.com and Match.com, which shows that smoking habits can have a significant impact on the search for love.

On eHarmony.co.uk 81% of all members stated they would not partner with a heavy smoker; at Match.com 72% of male members and 73% of female members said “No Way” when it comes to smoking and at mysinglefriend.com over 67% of respondents said smoking would put them off dating someone.

“Astonishingly there are still a large number of people who smoke and, sadly, 50% of these are likely to die from a smoking-related disease if they don’t quit,” said Dr Andrew Mortimore on behalf of the Directors of Public Health for the Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth PCT Cluster. “By quitting smoking, you could increase your life expectancy by 16 years and save tens of thousands of pounds over your lifetime.”

To help you quit smoking free Quit Kits are now available from your local pharmacy. To find your nearest Quit Kit pharmacy stockist text SEARCH and your postcode to 88088 or search online at nhs.uk/smokefree. For help and advice on quitting smoking visit http://smokefree.nhs.uk/

Top tips for quitting smoking

Visit your local pharmacy and pick up a free NHS Quit Kit
Sign up to the free Text service by texting TIPS to 63818
Set yourself goals and look at how much money you are saving each week.

For further information please contact the Communications Team on 023 8062 7461.

Notes

Statistics came from a poll conducted for the Department of Health by ComRes. 1,746 English adults online between 21 and 22 September 21 and 22 2011. Full data tables are available at www.comres.co.uk.
The NHS Quit Kit has been developed by experts, smokers and ex-smokers, and contains practical tools and advice to help smokers quit smoking for good.
For the first time, the Quit Kit includes a new text support programme to give smokers extra help in those tough first weeks. Other items include:

A health/wealth wheel, which helps quitters calculate how much they are saving and the improvements they will see to their health
Tips on how to improve and boost willpower, including a quitting planner which helps quitters identify smoking triggers and offers tips on managing cravings
MP3 downloads that are scientifically proven to reduce cravings
A wall chart to map progress
A ‘tangle’ toy to help keep hands busy
Information on other free quitting help such as local Stop Smoking Services.