The vast majority of people struggle when it comes to quitting smoking, as the habit, which is normally years in the making, cannot be dropped in the blink of an eye. But when it comes to having the highest success record for ditching cigarettes, which area of the UK is coming out on top?
According to data from nicotine pouch company Haypp, the north-west town of Warrington is actually the best in the UK for encouraging people to kick their habit to the kerb, Warrington Guardian recently reported.
Three-quarters of smokers in Warrington have successfully quit smoking, with this increasing to 84 per cent for guys.
This success is likely to be down to the quit smoking campaigns and services that have been introduced in the town, with the government spending £281,822 on these initiatives in Warrington.
Haypp’s Markus Lindblad noted that the amount of money councils plough into quit smoking resources has a big impact on smokers living in the areas.
“The fact that each of these local authorities is offering support in multiple locations and in many forms across the area is likely to be one of the biggest factors,” he stated.
Rotherham was found to be the second most successful area of the UK for quitting smoking, followed by Barnsley and Dudley. As well as Warrington’s council investing a significant amount of money into local resources, Rotherham’s has spent more than £250,000 on initiatives.
Mr Markus suggested the national harm reduction strategy, which encourages people to switch from cigarettes to an alternative nicotine product has helped those who want to quit.
He added: “Those who reduce the amount they smoke are more likely to stop smoking eventually, particularly if they are using licensed nicotine-containing product alternatives.”
As well as nicotine pouches, this could include liquid vapes. These allow ex-smokers to enjoy a nicotine hit without the harm of tobacco.
What’s more, it means they don’t have to give up all their habits and routines in one go, including holding something in their hand, and having a ‘smoke’ after eating or using the phone.
Quitting smoking involves having to deal with not having nicotine as well as giving up your daily routines, but it can be difficult to do both at once. This is why finding substitutes, from liquid vapes to playing with fidget toys, have been shown to help.
As a whole, smokers across the UK have been doing well in ditching their smoking habit over the last few years. There were almost 20 million smokers in Britain in 2011, which amounted to 20.2 per cent of the population. However, this dropped to just 6.6 million and 13.3 per cent by 2021.
Commenting on this significant reduction, the Office for National Statistics noted: “Vaping devices such as e-cigarettes have played a major role in the decrease in smoking prevalence in the UK.”
While the country has been doing well overall, Haypp’s recent findings showed the areas where smoking cessation has been least successful are Sutton, West Sussex, Warwickshire, and Swindon.
