Factors Affecting Smoking Behaviors Among Young British Bangladeshi and British Pakistani Muslims: A Qualitative Study

British-born young Muslims of South Asian background face several overlapping and conflicting normative expectations as well as values and beliefs from their culture and religion, which strongly influence many aspects of their lives. Drawing on research in Southampton, the current paper explores how smoking-related attitudes and behaviours among young British Bangladeshis and British Pakistanis can be best understood in this context. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 38 young people aged between 16 and 20 years. Participants were recruited from Southampton University and Southampton City College using purposive sampling techniques. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Four main overarching themes emerged from the analysis: gender, cultural values and norms, family and community, and religion. Results indicate that the smoking-related attitudes and behaviours of young British Bangladeshi and young British Pakistani men and women were influenced and shaped by the intersection of cultural and religious factors such as tradition, norms, values and beliefs. It is concluded that smoking cessation programmes focusing on cultural and religious themes may be necessary to control tobacco consumption by young people of South Asian Muslim origin.