Smoking threatens young women (2)

According to the findings, exposure to secondhand smoke among women aged 15 to 49 years old on the Chinese mainland is among the highest of the 14 low- and middle-income countries surveyed, such as Bangladesh, India and Mexico.

Also, women in rural areas of the country are more affected, where almost three out of four are exposed to secondhand smoke at home, compared to more than half in urban areas, the results showed.

Yang Jie, deputy director of China CDC's tobacco control office, said: "Women and children are most susceptible to secondhand smoke but worse, most of them choose to tolerate it."

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that there are more than 300 million smokers on the Chinese mainland and approximately 100,000 people die from exposure to secondhand smoke each year. At least 1 million die from smoking-related diseases annually.

"The Chinese government should take action immediately to address this, particularly to protect women from this health hazard," said Yang Gonghuan, deputy director of the non-governmental China Association on Tobacco Control.

The female smoking rate stands at 2.6 percent on the Chinese mainland, relatively low compared to other places worldwide.

But among young women, particularly those working in cities, that can reach 16 percent in some regions, she added.