Ananova:

Teenage obsession with mobile phones may be contributing to falls in their rates of smoking, according to a letter in the British Medical Journal.

Mobile phones may be replacing cigarettes as the trendiest thing for a teenager to have in their hand, two experts claimed.

Mobiles have the same attractions for young people as a packet of cigarettes - adult style and aspirations, peer group bonding and sociability, they said.

Wap phones, text messaging and e-mail may also be eating up teenagers' cash instead of tobacco.

The letter was written by Anne Charlton, emeritus professor at the School of Epidemiology at Nottingham University, and Clive Bates, director of the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health.

They said that rates of smoking among UK youngsters aged 11-15 fell from 13% in 1996 to 9% last year.

Among 15-year-olds, the rate of smoking fell from 30% four years ago to 23% in 1999, with a quarter of girls that age smoking and 21% of boys taking up cigarettes.

The sharp decline in the last half of the nineties was as fast as the huge increase at the beginning of the decade, say the writers.

At the same time, the ownership of mobile phones soared, as technology improved, costs came down and availability increased.

Seven out of 10 teenagers aged 15-17 now own a mobile phone and 73% of 15-24 year-olds are connected, according to figures released earlier this year.

The letter said: "We hypothesise that the fall in youth smoking and the rise in ownership of mobile phones among adolescents are related.

"The mobile phone is an effective competitor to cigarettes in the market for products that offer teenagers adult style, individuality, sociability, rebellion, peer group bonding and adult aspiration.

"Smoking may become seen as old technology, with the bright new world of text messaging, e-mail, WAP, and 3G phones becoming the new aspirational gateway to adult life."

If it came down to a hard choice between a packet of cigarettes or another "pay as you go" card, teenagers may opt for the latter rather than the former, say the authors.

"If our hypothesis is correct, the need to own a mobile phone will be providing vigorous competition for the spare cash once spent on cigarettes, while meeting many of the same needs," they concluded.