FOCUS ON HEALTH MATTERS

Measuring the impact of hookah size

A group of public health researchers is undertaking a first-of-its-kind examination of the health effects of hookah use.

Assistant Professor Ziyad Ben Taleb, graduate students Danny Dabroy and Steven Barrientos, and their team are studying how the size of a hookah device—also known as a water pipe—impacts its user’s health.

“Retailers try to market smaller hookah products as best for beginners, making them appear like a perfect ‘starter size,’” says Dr. Ben Taleb, who is also director of the University’s Nicotine and Tobacco Research Laboratory. “So I want to know how different hookah sizes affect health outcomes.”

The study is focused on correcting misconceptions regarding the safety of hookah smoking and providing novel scientific evidence to help regulate the sales and the marketing of the devices.

“When these results are published, it will show the public the effects hookah smoking can have, regardless of size,” Ben Taleb says. “It will raise more awareness and correct misperceptions around it.”