Teens Smoking Cigarettes: Quick Facts

Many parents call me about their teens and sometimes tweens that are lighting up.  We like to say pick and choose issues, and we don’t condone smoking cigarettes – but we can’t panic. 

Continue talking to our kid about how damaging smoking cigarettes is to your body as well as your overall health.  Smoking is not cool – but it is cool to be an educated parent.  More survey's and research is proving today that our kid's are listening to parents and they are the biggest influence on their children.  First and foremost, they have to be a good role model. 

Most people who smoke first light up a cigarette when they’re teens. In fact, 80% of smokers began the habit before they turned 18.

Here are a few quick facts about cigarette smoking, nicotine and tobacco that you may not have heard before. Even if you have, they’re facts that are worth keeping in mind when your friends and relatives light up a cigarette.

1. Nearly 70% of people who smoke say they wish they could quit.
2. Teens who smoke cough and wheeze three times more than teens who don’t smoke.
3. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, lung disease and strokes.
4. Smokers as young as 18 years old have shown evidence of developing heart disease.
5. More than 70% of young people who smoke said they wish they hadn’t started doing it.
6. Smoking a pack of cigarettes each day costs about $1,500 per year — enough money to buy a new computer or Xbox.
7. Studies show that 43% of people who smoke three or fewer cigarettes a day become addicted to nicotine.
8. More than 434,000 Americans die each year from smoking-related diseases.
9. One-third of all new smokers will eventually die from a smoking-related disease.
10. Nicotine — one of the main ingredients in cigarettes — is a poison.
11. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine.
12. All tobacco products — that includes cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco — have nicotine in them.
13. Smoking makes you feel weaker and more tired because it prevents oxygen from reaching your heart.
14. Smoking decreases your sense of taste and smell, making you enjoy things like flowers and ice cream a little bit less.
15. Smoking hurts the people around you: More than 53,000 people die each year from secondhand smoke.
16. Cigarettes have tons of harmful chemicals in them, including ammonia (found in toilet cleaner), carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust) and arsenic (found in rat poison).
17. Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health.
18. Just days after quitting smoking, a person’s sense of taste and smell returns to normal.
19. Ten years after quiting smoking, a person’s risk of lung cancer and heart disease returns to that of a non-smoker.
20. Most teens (about 70%) don’t smoke. Plus, if you make it through your teen years without becoming a smoker, chances are you’ll never become a smoker.

Adapted from “50 Things You Should Know About Tobacco” by Journeyworks Publishing.

World No Tobacco Day 2012

On 31st May each year World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption.

World No Tobacco Day 2012 will educate policy-makers and the general public about the tobacco industry's nefarious and harmful tactics.

Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death.  As a parent you can be a role model and an example to others.

Does your teen smoke?


No one needs a reminder that smoking is bad for you, but here are some key facts about tobacco:

• Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
• Tobacco kills nearly six million people each year, of whom more than 5 million are users and ex users and more than 600 000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.
• Nearly 80% of the world's one billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.
• Consumption of tobacco products is increasing globally, though it is decreasing in some high-income and upper middle-income countries.

Many kids or teens start smoking due to peer pressure.  It is important that parents talk to their kids early about the risks of smoking and all substance use.

Communication is key to prevention.  

Tobacco Free Florida Quitline is a tremendous resource and hotline for both parents and teens to help you and your child kick this habit.

Join me on Facebook  and follow me on Twitter for more information and educational articles on parenting today's teenagers.

Learn more about WHO and TFI click here.

Sue Scheff: Tobacco Free Florida

Unveiled in 2008 under the direction of the Florida Department of Health, the Tobacco Free Florida campaign seeks to decrease the number of tobacco users in the state of Florida through efforts aimed at both preventing nonusers from starting to use tobacco and encouraging current users to quit. These efforts are funded by money derived from court settlements against major tobacco companies, and include executions in the realm of Advertising, Public Relations, Interactive, Guerilla Media, Event Media, Sponsored Promotions and more.

Learn more at http://tobaccofreeflorida.com/ and read more about Florida's Quitline and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT).  Click here.