Teenage smoking: Facts and statistics

What is Tobacco?

Tobacco is a very toxic poison which causes addiction andleads to development of various different types of serious medicalconditions. It is widely known fact that cigarettes and other similar tobaccoproducts contain a large amount of highly harmful substances such asformaldehyde, arsenic, DDT, carbon monoxide and tar. The substance in tobaccowhich can be held responsible for the addiction in smokers is called nicotine. Nicotineis also very harmful because it increases the risk of cancer, stroke, breathingproblems and heart attack. Nicotine addiction is very hard to break and thereare a large number of people everywhere around the world who are trying to quitsmoking.

Most people are not aware of the fact that chewing tobacco is alsotoxic to the body because it may lead to development of white patches andsores in the oral cavity and may increase the risk of cancer of the throat, gums, tongueand the mouth in general. Chewing tobacco may also be held responsible for tooth loss,tooth discoloration and severely bad breath. Another big problem with chewingtobacco is that it may be additionally associated with a much higher nicotineaddiction than cigarette smoking.

Teen Smoking Statistics

Smoking is a big problem among teenagers. There are a largenumber of them who will have started smoking by the time they reach 11 years of age. Thereis a heartwarming fact that the teen smoking rate has declined since the 1990sbut the same rate has remained steady ever since 2002. There are approximately 28percent of high school students who consume tobacco products, and there arealso 23 percent of high school students who smoke cigarettes. Certainstatistics show that 19 percent of male students enjoy smoking cigars, whilethe percentage of girls who indulge in such activity is somewhere around 9.Smokeless tobacco is commonly enjoyed among 14 percent of male high schoolstudents and only 2 percent of female high school students. It is a peculiarfact that there are 25 percent of white students who enjoy smoking cigarettesand that there are only 11 percent of black students who indulge in suchshameful activities. Hispanic students show the same rate as white students,while the Asians share the same rate with the students who belong to blackpopulation. There is also a small percentage of students who tend to smokeby using kreteks, bidis, hookah and other types of pipes.

Why You Shouldn’t Smoke!

Each smoker should be well aware of the fact that quittingsmoking could be the best decision of his or her life. In order to quitsmoking, a smoker needs to break the nicotine addiction. There are a bunch ofreasons why one should not smoke. Secondhand smoke is harmful to all the otherpeople around the smoker. Cigarettes can also cause burns, which may be verydangerous in some situations. Smokers usually suffer from bad smelling skin,hair and clothes which is not very nice. There are also numerous healthproblems which may be associated with smoking and those include gum disease,heart disease, various types of cancer, wrinkles on the skin, constanttiredness and fatigue, lack of breath, problems breathing, sore throat, chroniccough, stained hands, stained teeth and bad breath.

One should also be familiar with the factthat smoking is a rather expensive habit. Such habit canbe easily replaced with positive and meaningful things in life such as workingout, taking a walk, going to a movie, chewing on sunflower seeds, calling afriend or chewing a sugarless gum.

There are certain steps which can be ofgreat help in making it easier for a person to quit smoking. One should simplystop. All tobacco products and lighters and ashtrays need to be thrown away inorder to make it all much easier. Telling all the friends about quitting mayalso be helpful in some cases. Making a list of reasons for quitting should alsobe considered as excellent means of motivation.

There are a large number of peoplewho are concerned about gaining weight after quitting smoking. In some cases,weight gain does indeed occur, but there are also cases when peopleactually lost weight after quitting smoking. Individuals who gain weight afterquitting smoking usually do so because they eat much more simply to substitutefor smoking. This is why it is important to work out and keep fit afterquitting smoking. Saying no to tobacco may not be that easy as it seems. Oneshould never be convinced that it is okay to smoke. It is quite normal for aperson to feel upset, angry, irritable, edgy, hungrier and less concentratedafter quitting smoking as those are all symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Coughand headaches are also common symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.