Smoking is one of the most addictive habits anyone can adopt.

Most adult smokers started their habit as preteens or teenagers

There are various reasons children start smoking

They might observe a parent,older sibling or an individual they look up to smoking and they desire to imitate them.

They succumb to peer pressure if they join a group where the “person of influence” in that group has already started.

In the past advertising played a major part in children commencing to smoke. Nevertheless ,governments have now legislated to ban almost all forms of cigarette advertising

We are nonetheless left with the problem however that according to WHO there are presently  1.1 billion smokers in the world today.

The death rate from smoking related illnesses is at present about 5 million annually and is expected to increase to 10 million before 2030

Second hand smoke is today a major problem for children. In the 4-11 age group about 60% will be exposed to the second hand smoke from at least one parent

Stats demonstrate also that children of smokers suffer further from lung and breathing disorders such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.

As well as the damage to the children’s lungs there is the added concern of smokers coughing and spreading germs.

The earlier a child is exposed to tobacco smoke the more chance they have of developing serious lung problems.

Babies still in the uterus are very badly affected. The mother will pass on to the foetus all the toxins she received.

As well as this some of the oxygen in the mothers blood is replaced by carbon monoxide. This lack of sufficient oxygen for the foetus will cause the heart rate to increase as the infant fights for more oxygen.

As a consequence many babies do not go full term and arrive early and undersize The more a mother smokes the less the baby weighs.

There are more likely to have inadequate lung function. They are twice as likely to die of “cot death”

If a mother waits until after she knows she is pregnant, a lot of damage has already been done to the growing foetus.

Giving up is not easy, but when you succeed it is unquestionably worth it.

There is a review of a number of choices you have  to quit smoking here


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