TY - JOUR T1 - News analysis JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 351 LP - 354 DO - 10.1136/tc.2010.039784 VL - 19 IS - 5 A2 - , Y1 - 2010/10/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/19/5/351.abstract N2 - All articles written by David Simpson unless otherwise attributed. Ideas and items for News Analysis should be sent to: d.simpson@iath.orgTobacco advertising is still permitted in Lebanon, even though the government ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. Cigarette advertising for women is prominent, with numerous campaigns flooding the media every year.Recently, tobacco water pipe advertising has started to appear. These ads are designed specifically to target women, as smoking a water pipe—also known as hookah or shisha—is becoming increasingly prevalent among this growing segment of the tobacco market. Water pipe smoking is more acceptable for women than cigarette smoking and the new advertisements are adding to the social acceptability of water pipe smoking and encouraging more women to become hooked.In the summer of 2010, a billboard advertisement appeared around the capital, Beirut, promoting a restaurant that offered the use of a ‘Diet Hookah’. This ad was clearly aimed at women, not just to exploit the increasing female market for water pipe smoking, but also to target women concerned about their weight and slimness during the summer season. Many such women will try anything from excessive sports activities and low calorie diets, to near starvation, to maintain a slim figure. In fact, many young women take up water pipe smoking specifically to decrease food intake, especially as it can keep them from eating during an outing to a restaurant. Significantly, the restaurant behind the Diet Hookah ad had also been promoting ‘American Grill sandwiches’ on similar billboard ads, indicating that teenagers were a key target.However, despite the fact that some women smoke water pipes as a weight control measure, others think that it actually promotes weight gain, and in particular, increases abdominal fat. No doubt this belief is based on the ingredients listed on water … ER -