Allured to smoke?

Each year millions of who smoke try to kick the habit but unfortunately not many are successful in doing so. Deaths from smoking continue to rise around the world. A new study suggests that the cause of nicotine addiction may be a mutation in the gene linked to nicotine metabolism.

Seventy percent of adolescent smokers wish they had never started. Two-thirds have made at least one unsuccessful attempt to quit. Nearly 90% of the adult smokers took up the habit before they were old enough to realize the threat it causes to their lives, i.e. they first tried it in their teens.

Teenagers get easily attracted towards that first puff. It maybe a form of rebellion or just an attempt to fit in with a particular group. They may believe that cigarettes will improve their concentration or help them lose weight. Some teenagers see smoking as part of their identity or persona. They may feel more macho, independent or grown-up when they smoke.

Teenagers who have parents or friends who smoke are likely to start it themselves; partly because they have an easier access to cigarettes.

Addiction to nicotine is alarming. In fact, adolescents typically become addicted at relatively low doses of nicotine. A teenager who smokes just one cigarette a day may have withdrawal symptoms when he or she tries to quit.

Parents can do a lot in keeping their children away from smoking. No, I’m not talking about making any strict rules or warning them against it at an early age. Such acts will only make them keener to try it. The best one can do is to be a good example. If you smoke, quitting is one of the best things you can do to help keep your children off cigarettes.

If all your attempts to quit smoking have failed and you just cannot give up on it, try the next-best thing. Avoid smoking in your children’s presence, in the house or car. Never leave cigarettes where your children can get to them.

Other attempts that should be made to decrease the acceptability of tobacco use by young people are: educating students about the negative social effects of smoking and helping them resist the peer influence to smoke.

It is ironic that smoking begins as a teenage attempt to assert independence but results in serious dependence on a product that is responsible for thousands of deaths every year.