More Harmful Than Cigarettes: Poverty, Pesticides, Prolonged sitting, UPF, Cars, Alcohol, low Vitamin D, etc.

25 Things That Are “More Harmful Than Cigarettes” That Society Still Somehow Treats As Completely Normal

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As humans, we are no strangers to engaging in activities that we know aren't good for us — it's kind of been a thing for forever, unfortunately. Recently, Redditor Jiwitom asked, "What’s more harmful than cigarettes but society treats it as normal?" The list is long. It can feel overwhelming to acknowledge all the harmful things out there, but I think we have to talk about these things because sometimes they are literally killing us. Here's what people had to share:

1.Poverty

"I am a community health worker. Helping my patients address their 'social determinants of health' is my primary job, and poverty is by far the most common. It is next to impossible to focus on your health when you are in survival mode.

2. Pesticides.

In heavy agricultural regions, they are more heavily linked to cancer than cigarettes. PFAS also lead to global contamination, the male fertility crisis across many species, hormone disruption, etc., and people will still defend it to no end. We could improve this a lot."

"I come from a village of agriculture and farming, the entire place is just surrounded by vegetable and fruit fields. Parkinson’s and MS rates are really high where I live, more than half the older people I know are diagnosed, and were born before there were stricter regulations on pesticide use."

3. "Air pollution

is actually regarded as one of the leading causes of death worldwide."

"Car exhaust and tire particulate are especially bad."

4. Media addiction

"For me, it’s social media addiction. People joke about it, but it’s literally rewiring attention spans. The scary part is that you don’t even enjoy it half the time; it’s just the urge, and it stops feeling like a choice. That’s addiction."

"It's completely hijacked my brain for the worse. I can't think like normal. I am constantly overstimulated and on edge, and when I'm not on social media, the addiction feels like a magnet. It's an awful cycle. I'm glad I had some years before this epidemic to enjoy life. For some generations, this is all they know."
"The number of people doomscrolling while driving is legitimately concerning. Look around while at a red light at any busy intersection. We are the people in Wall-E."
"It's not just attention spans. It's killing human connection, sometimes quietly replacing it with parasocial and contact-lacking online relationships. Strong social bonds are one of the biggest factors in health and longevity."

5. "Tanning."

6. "Prolonged sitting.

Please get up and move more. If you have the ability to get a standing desk or modifier, get one. At the very least, get up and take a lap every half hour. Too much sitting causes so much damage to the body. It lowers your ability to regulate blood sugar, leading to a higher likelihood of developing diabetes and difficulty managing it. It also lowers physical stamina. Without frequent exercise, you will struggle with longer walks, leaving you out of breath. Sitting too often also raises the risk of developing cardiovascular conditions and heart attacks. It's also part of why so many people rapidly decline in health once they retire. They stop moving as much, often spending hours on a sofa or chair, watching TV. Doctors heavily push older people to exercise because so much sitting sets them on a downward spiral, health-wise. "

7. "Ultra-processed foods

that have gone through extensive industrial processing and contain ingredients not commonly used in home cooking, such as preservatives, colorings, flavorings, emulsifiers, and other additives. They are designed to be hyperpalatable, convenient, and long-lasting, often at the expense of nutritional quality. These foods usually have high levels of added sugar, unhealthy fats, excess sodium, and low levels of fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Examples include sugary breakfast cereals, soda and sweetened beverages, packaged snacks, candy and chocolate bars, instant noodles or soups, frozen ready meals, processed meats, commercial baked goods, flavored yogurts with added sugar, and fast-food items."

8. "Chronic stress and zero sleep.

We treat burnout like a badge of honor; meanwhile, it’s quietly destroying people."

"I had a really, really high-paying job in NYC, but worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week. After two years, I quit and moved to NJ. Now, I work for the government with a slight pay decrease, but I only work 35 hours a week. Best decision I ever made."
"Modern society is designed to induce chronic stress, which is one of many tools used to keep the poor and working class oppressed and/or fighting amongst themselves. You'd be amazed how much easier it is to spread propaganda and disinformation to people whose cognitive function is impaired by chronic stress and lack of sleep."

9. "Guns.

The number one cause of child death in the US is gun-related. There are so many people who don't want to admit it, but facts and numbers don’t lie."

10. Excessive screen time

"Seeing as sports books are pushed on every website and TV commercial, and gaming companies are sneaking gambling into kids' games, I think we are seeing that gambling is becoming more and more of an issue."

"My older brother teaches middle school, and for last fall's internet safety talk, they added gambling ads and whatnot. It's freaking depressing that it's become so pervasive and accessible, you have to worry about PRE-TEENS being affected by it."
"Smoking takes years to kill you. COPD/lung cancer, etc., are all horrible ways to die. But gambling addiction ruins your life now. It bankrupts you and leaves you in the gutter. The damage it can do is basically the same as heroin/cocaine/crack, just without the potential to kill you instantly if you screw up the amounts. Otherwise, it's the same track of bleeding you dry of all your assets."

11. "Cars.

Directly killing people by crashing into them and indirectly killing thousands and thousands via air pollution. 30% of microplastics come directly from car tires. Roads and carparks are devastating to the environment we depend on for clean water and oxygen. Noise pollution from any traffic above 30km/h directly contributes to the degradation of mental health."

"Alcohol.

I know opinions are divided on this, but from my perspective in the society I live in, this is my answer."

"Every major trauma I have dealt with in my life has been a result of someone who can't control themselves while drinking."
"I have a friend who is a public defender. He says that 90% of his cases involve drugs or alcohol."

"A few people having control of vast amounts of wealth and power while millions upon millions of people live in abject poverty with no way out."
"AI. The accelerated rate at which we see it affecting people's brains and their ability to think is unheard of. Usually, with a new technology, like social media, it takes years to see or even study the effects, but we're not even two years into mass adoption, and we're already seeing detrimental effects."
"Not having universal healthcare. I have excellent health insurance (for America), and I have money in savings, plus a decent job, and I still put off soooooooooo many medical needs because of the expense. Even young people raising families have to skip out on regular screenings and seeking treatment for things because of the shitshow that is the American healthcare system."
"I agree with what everyone is saying, but our addiction to petroleum is literally going to kill us all."
"Misinformation. It used to be illegal to advertise using false information. Now, as long as you phrase it just so, it doesn't really matter what you say. Companies are using this to advertise all sorts of things as 'healthy' or better than the alternative."
"Dating apps. They skew expectations, and the low barrier to entry makes you feel like you are putting in effort, but there is zero accountability or commitment. They make it easier to communicate but harder to connect. I'm sure they are a significant factor in the loneliness epidemic for both men and women. Loneliness is the root cause of a lot of negative behaviors, from addiction to direct health problems."
"Texting and driving. Over 3,000 humans die every year because some people just have to use their phone while performing probably the most dangerous thing a human does on the daily, and nothing is being done to stop it. Now, cars even have huge screens built into the vehicle right in front of the driver's face."
"Repeated COVID infections."
"Porn itself may not be so harmful, but the addiction to it is bad, especially because we treat it as a normal thing. Also, the number of underage kids consuming it at a wild rate is very concerning."
"Propaganda."
"Giving little kids iPads and letting them watch hours of YouTube, reels, and play Roblox is RUINING their brains and attention spans. Kids can no longer read at grade level, they lack imagination, they lack distress tolerance skills, they lack real-world problem-solving and critical thinking skills, they lack social skills, and they lack emotional reciprocity skills. They are wired for constant dopamine hits. We are raising a generation of future addicts who can't keep jobs because they will not be able to tolerate boredom or mundane life without constant stimulation/novelty feeding their dopamine-addicted brains. It's actually scary to think of the future because parents normalize this 'iPad generation' too much."
"Bad teeth leak poison into your body that can lead to serious health problems."