More and more young American women have picked up the smoking habit - this is due, in part (say the experts), that smoking is portrayed as "glamorous" to impressionable teens through the media.

A recent report released by the Surgeon General revealed that 22% of all women still smoked as of 1998.

More enlightening facts include:

• In 2000, nearly a third of high school senior girls surveyed said they had smoked at least once during the previous month.

• Smoking "declined substantially" among African-American teen girls during the 1990s, but reductions among Caucasian girls were marginal.

• Far more US women die from lung cancer than any other form of cancer. While about 41,000 American women lose their lives to breast cancer every year, nearly 68,000 die from lung cancer -- with 90% of those deaths linked to smoking.

• Smoking is linked to higher risks of other cancers such as those of the mouth, throat, bladder, liver and pancreas, as well as a higher risk for the No. 1 killer of US women, cardiovascular disease.

So why are women picking up the habit?

According to the report, women may be influenced by the images of models and actresses they see in movies, magazines and other media outlets:

• Tobacco companies: Advertising expenditures soared from $5 billion in 1995 to nearly $7 billion in 1998, with ads targeted at women featuring slim, attractive and athletic models. Many experts agree that many teenage girls start smoking with the hope that the habit will help them control their weight, so this approach may be proving especially effective in marketing to young women.

• Hollywood: Hollywood's love affair with cigarettes continues. Teen girls watch stars like Sarah Jessica Parker and others light up on screen. Experts say that celebrities need to be more conscious of their influence on America's youth and should promote the image that young, successful women do not smoke.

Center For Disease Control August 29, 2002