Study: People Quit Smoking in Groups

If people you know stop smoking, you’re more likely to quit too, a study has found. You’re influenced by the people you know and even by the people they know, researchers said. The study used a detailed set of data on 12,067 people. All were part of the 30-year Framingham Heart Study. The study found that if your spouse quits smoking, you’re 67% less likely to continue. If a friend quits, the odds that you’ll keep puffing drop 36%. Even if your friend’s sister or your husband’s co-worker quits, you’re more likely to quit too. The Associated Press wrote about the study May 22. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.