MORE than half a million young people took up smoking to combat the stress and boredom of lockdown.
The number of 18 to 34-year-olds sparking up increased by 25 per cent — an extra 652,000 people — a worrying study revealed.
And an extra 4.5 million people, mainly women, developed drink problems, researchers from University College London found.
The study showed a 40 per cent rise in problem drinking across all age groups. Women were most affected, with a 55 per cent increase.
Younger people, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, were most likely to start smoking.
Dr Sarah Jackson, from UCL, said: “Lockdown was a period of great stress for many people and we saw rates of smoking and problem drinking increase among groups hardest hit by the pandemic.
“People mistakenly believe smoking relieves stress, so some may have used tobacco or alcohol as a means of coping with increased stress or boredom.”
The researchers, funded by Cancer Research UK, noted that smoking was the UK’s biggest preventable cause of cancer and was known to be linked to at least 15 different types of the disease.
Last year, the Office for National Statistics found the number of people who smoked had fallen dramatically over the past decade — from nearly 20 per cent in 2011 to just under 14 per cent.
In particular, the habit had fallen out of fashion among 18 to 24-year-olds.
More than half of those who smoked said they wanted to quit.
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