New research has shown that offering money vouchers or cash-back incentives can go a long way towards convincing people to stop smoking.

Researchers from the University of East Anglia in the UK demonstrated this with a programme that monitored smokers' activity through diaries and trackers.

The study showed that offering people monetary incentives – such as €10 off their grocery shopping – helped them to stop smoking for at least six months.

For every 100 people who received financial rewards to quit smoking, 10 managed to quit for at least six months, compared to seven people out of the 100 who didn’t receive financial rewards.

Health and wellbeing reporter Eimer Daly told Alive and Kicking with Clare McKenna that it would be “really great if we can put a bit of finance towards these programs”.

“If you’re part of a programme and you’re part of a community, there’s a sense of like, wanting to come back to it, you have that support system from other people in the group,” she said.

“I think this is a really nice one for communities to get up and running in their area, and a nice kind of way to kick start something for the new year.”

File photo shows a woman smoking. Picture by: BSIP SA / Alamy Stock Photo

According to Ms Daly, those who are looking to achieve more general health and wellbeing goals could try out the Mediterranean diet, which has been crowned the best diet of the year for the seventh year in a row.

“So, nutritionists, metabolic health experts, disease experts, they’ve said that eating the Mediterranean diet is really, really great for longevity,” she said.

“It has benefits around skiving off Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and then just overall really great for managing and maintaining weight loss...

“I think why this diet is so popular is because there’s no restrictions, it’s really you can eat what you want.

“Now, they do say, eat lean proteins, legumes, fruits, vegetables and health fats, try stay away from that processed food – but there’s no hard rules.”

The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including France, Spain, Greece, and Italy.

Some research has suggested that people living in these regions tend to be healthier and have a lower risk of many chronic conditions.

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Main image: A man smoking a cigarette. Image: Jes2ufoto / Alamy Stock Photo