Are you giving up smoking beyond fasting hours in Ramadan?

Only 16% of smokers are planning to give up smoking entirely throughout the Holy Month according to the fourth annual Yahoo! Maktoob Research Ramadan survey.

Whilst the vast majority in the survey agree that the month of Ramadan is an annual lesson of self-restraint and discipline, smokers remain challenged to give up their daily habit beyond the fasting hours. The MENA average shows that 83% quit smoking during fasting hours only and without extending that through the night.

Commenting on the findings Yasmina Amara, Market Research Manager, Yahoo! Maktoob Research, stated: “A quarter of respondents who took part in our annual survey are regular smokers and the challenge to abstain for the month continues to remain extremely high. Attempting to quit can be frustrating and difficult, however Ramadan is often viewed as an ideal time of the year to attempt to break this habit. Users across the Yahoo! Maktoob forums discuss a variety of health related issues during the Holy Month and smoking always crops up as a hot topic.”

Yahoo! Maktoob Research runs an annual Ramadan survey in the MENA region. The 2011 survey polled the opinions of 2,316 adults on perceptions and expectations on topics relating to this time of year. The survey covered 10 countries in the MENA region which include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. 96 percent of respondents are Muslim; 71 percent male and 29 percent female. 41 percent of respondents were aged between 26 and 35 years, a further 25 percent were aged 18 to 25 years.