Smoking rates in the U.S. may have fallen according to a government report released last April, but a new study found something new: there's an increasing trend of "very light" smoking in young women.
Very light smoking means smoking few times a day, or smoking on some days, but not in others, as defined by the study.
For the research, scientists led by Carole Holahan from the University of Texas, Austin studied data from over 9,700 women aged 18 to 25, who completed a survey about smoking habits back in 2011.
These women were classified as "current smokers" — those who had smoked in the last 30 days, and "former smokers" — those who had smoked before but not in the last 30 days, as stated in the report from TIME.
The study, which appeared in Preventing Chronic Disease journal of U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that almost 20 percent of the participants in the study, and around 60 percent of those who were smoking, were referred to as "very light" smokers.
The team also found that younger women, aged 18 to 20, were more inclined to smoke very lightly and intermittently.
Very light smokers also tend to smoke irregularly, have some form of college education, and are less likely to get married, according to the findings.
Researchers noted that smoking lightly is predominant among young women of childbearing age and this poses as a concern since smoking not only affects fertility, but also predisposes risk to cervical cancer.
Some people tend to smoke lightly since they can't afford a whole pack of cigarettes, according to researchers.
Others, those in college for instance, will smoke lightly since they are easily influenced to do so during weekend parties.
Additionally, researchers said that some will start to pick up a stick because they are emotionally stressed.
It may appear that smoking lightly would not be as bad as heavy smoking, but it's not. In fact, authors warn that the habit is not considered safe.
Research has repeatedly highlighted that lighting up even just a single stick exposes a woman to health problems.
"Making very light smokers aware that even small amounts of tobacco are harmful would be important," Holahan told Live Science.
