GIC Health Articles - Teens and Smoking

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Teens and Smoking - Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow
(winter 2008)

Tobacco use, one of the top preventable causes of death besides obesity in the United States, primarily begins in early adolescence: one third of all smokers had their first cigarette by the age of 14 and ninety percent of all smokers begin before the age of 21 according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Nearly one-third of college students are smokers.  The 2005 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey found:

• 28 percent of high school students use some kind of tobacco
• 14% of high school boys and 2% of high school girls use some form of chew or other types of smokeless tobacco
• 54% of high school students have tried cigarette smoking

An estimated 440,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking.  Each day 2,000 teens become regular, daily smokers, and the American Cancer Society estimates that one third of them will die from smoking-related diseases.  Other significant health problems among young people include increased cough and phlegm production, increased number and severity of respiratory illnesses, decreased physical fitness, and potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function.  Users of spit or smokeless tobacco are prime candidates for cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus and receding gums, which can progress to the loss of teeth and pre-cancerous spots in the mouth.

Teen cigarette use decreased significantly from the late 1990s to 2003, which the CDC attributed largely to a 70% increase in the retail price of cigarettes between 1997 and 2001, increased school-based efforts to prevent tobacco use, and increased youth exposure to anti-tobacco state and national mass media campaigns, many of which were funded by tobacco company settlements.  The American Cancer Society cites Florida’s “truth” campaign, which provided a modern twist on the wolf in sheep’s clothing parable, as well as a Nebraska high school’s media campaign which featured a teen afflicted by oral cancer, as effective campaigns that caused dramatic reductions in teenage tobacco use.  Sadly, the prevalence of smoking was unchanged from 2003 to 2005 in part due to cut backs on anti-tobacco campaigns.

Parents’ involvement is a primary component of preventing tobacco use. The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide suggests that parents:

• Talk to your child clearly and openly about smoking, ideally between the ages of 10 and 12
• Strongly discourage smoking and be a role model: don’t smoke
• Get your child involved in sports, exercise, and social activities
• Monitor your child’s whereabouts and try to arrange adult supervision for them if they will be home alone for a period of time.

If your child does smoke, help him or her quit.  The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in collaboration with health plans across the state, offers QuitWorks, a telephone counseling, information and referral service for Massachusetts residents who want to stop smoking.  Call 1-800-TRY-TO-STOP (800-879-8678) or visit Try to Stop's website.