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Tobacco and Your Child
Someone will die from a
tobacco-related cause in the next 72 seconds. Today alone,
1,200 people will die of tobacco-related causes. Nine out
of 10 smokers started as teens. Tobacco causes more deaths
than alcohol, AIDS, illegal drugs, car crashes, fires,
murders and suicides combined. These statistics from Just
Eliminate Lies, or JEL (http://www.jeliowa.org/info_faq.asp)
are sobering. JEL is an Iowa based group that uses graphic
numbers and commercials to encourage people to stop
smoking or to never start.
Teenage smoking isn’t a new
phenomenon. What’s new is scary information coming from
researchers and anti-smoking advocates, like the
statistics listed above. The Surgeon General has reported
that 30% of female high school senior have tried a
cigarette in the past month. They do it to fit in, to
relieve tension or to avoid eating. But new research is
showing that smoking causes more problems than wrinkles
and cancer. Jeffrey G. Johnson, PhD, of Columbia
University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute
and his fellow researchers studied 700 young adults
between ages 16 and 22 and discovered that smoking leads
to anxiety disorders. According to their findings (http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1674.51445),
teens who smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day are 15
times as likely to develop anxiety disorders as
young adults, compared to nonsmokers. Subjects who smoked
less than a pack a day were two and a half times as likely
to develop anxiety disorders.
 Parents
should talk to their kids about cigarettes at an early
age, before someone tempts them. Don’t get into scary
details with a young child; just say that smoking is
“icky”. As he gets older, mention details like affects the
ability to play sports. By the time he’s a teenager, he’s
old enough for the whole story. Parents should also
practice what they preach – lecturing a child on the evils
of smoking while puffing away isn’t going to work.
If, despite your best efforts,
you learn that your child smokes, stay calm.
Acting irrational and screaming
will only make matters worse. Take a deep breath and then
ask how long he’s been doing it. Try to find out why – if
he says “to be cool”, remind him that wrinkles and
breathing trouble aren’t cool. Calculate how much the
cigarettes will cost a month and show what he can do with
that money. If he smokes a pack a day at $4/pack
(roughly), that’s $120 a month. That amount will buy a lot
of clothes, CDs or concert tickets.
If your child admits that he
wants to stop smoking, offer your complete support.
Encourage him to join a support program; his school may
offer one or know of a local chapter. Support groups are
important – according to Tobacco Free.org (http://www.tobaccofree.org/quitting.htm),
80% of smokers who quit do so without being in any program
and 95% of them fail. That’s the same rate as with heroin.
 The
Internet is an invaluable resource for quitting. The
Smoking Cessation Program at WebMD (http://my.webmd.com/condition_center/smk)
will help you develop the right plan for you. There are
many chat rooms for those trying to stop, such as the one
at Quit Net (http://www.quitnet.org)
as well as web pages with success stories and tips.
Tobacco Free.org offers these suggestions:
- Inhale as deep as you can, and
then slowly exhale. As you exhale, close your eyes, and
let your chin sink to your chest. Visualize all the
tension leaving your body, slowly draining out of your
fingers and toes, just flowing on out.
- Drink LOTS of water and fluids
to help flush out the nicotine and other poisons from
your body.
- Remember that the urge to
smoke only lasts a few minutes, and will then pass.
- Nibble on low calorie foods
like celery, apples and carrots. Chew gum or suck on
cinnamon sticks.
- Stretch out your meals; eat
slowly and wait a bit between bites.
- After dinner, instead of a
cigarette, have a cup of mint tea or a peppermint candy.
Remember that it’s difficult to
stop smoking and your child may be extremely cranky for a
while. Try not to take anything personally and keep
telling yourself that he’s trying to break an addiction.
The image of smoking as something
“cool” is slowly starting to change as new information
comes to light. Encourage your children to live a healthy
lifestyle including exercise and proper eating habits and
they will be able to handle temptation in ways that make
all of you proud.
Links:
Just Eliminate Lies, or JEL (http://www.jeliowa.org/info_faq.asp)
WebMD – teen smoking and anxiety
(http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1674.51445)
Tobacco Free.org (http://www.tobaccofree.org/quitting.htm)
The Smoking Cessation Program at
WebMD (http://my.webmd.com/condition_center/smk)
Quit Net (http://www.quitnet.org)
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