Children & Dangers of Smoking

More children are smoking now than at any other time in history, and the major risks are much worse for children than for adults. Heart disease and high blood pressure are only a few of the side effects and dangers associated with children and smoking. With 60 percent of children from ages 4 to 11 being in homes where smokers are present, secondhand smoke does just as much damage to young bodies as actual smoking.

Facts

• According to the American Heart Association, cigarette smoking by children and teens is a major problem. Considering that many adults who smoke began smoking in their teens, habits formed in youth can carry on into adulthood. Those who start to smoke before age 20 are said to have the highest cases of early heart disease and high blood pressure as well as fatty buildup in the arteries.

Middle School and High School Smokers

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 4,400 kids from age 12 to 17 try their first cigarette daily. Almost a third of these children are expected to die from diseases related to smoking. More than 240 schools were used in a poll taken by the National Youth Tobacco Survey, and it found a decrease in use for high school students, but not in middle schools. This leads officials to believe that more prevention should be aimed at middle-school students and their curriculum in class.

Results of Smoking

• Every inhalation of nicotine from smoking increases heart rate temporarily, as well as raising blood pressure. The blood circulating through the body has less oxygen and can cause the clumping of blood vessels that feed the heart. Clots are more pressing in smokers, due to this side effect. The brain becomes addicted to the nicotine in the cigarettes and, therefore, it becomes an addictive habit, rather than a passing fad for children. Once the addiction takes place, it can take months or years to help a child to quit smoking. If caught early, smoking children and the dangers of smoking can be decreased drastically.

Side Effects

• The increased risk of early coronary heart disease as well as high blood pressure is more prevalent in child smokers due to the fact that their bodies are not yet completely done growing. In arteries that are still expanding and brain cells that are constantly competing for oxygen, the lack of oxygen caused by the inhalation of smoke will cause constriction of arteries and veins as well as a decreased oxygen intake. Persistent chest colds and pneumonia as well as the flu are more prevalent in child smokers because of the foreign material in the lungs. Asthma later in life and allergies to airborne pathogens are also side effects for children who smoke.

Preventing Child Smokers

• Talking to your children about the effects of smoking can help to deter the onset of smoking. Many children experience peer pressure to smoke. Middle-school-aged children are beginning to enter puberty and believe they must try to fit in. In many cases, this can cause them to do things out of character, simply to fit in with others. Telling children about the health problems associated with smoking, as well as being a home-support system, will help them to say no to starting a habit that will impact their health drastically.