For Teens

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Are you a young woman who smokes or do you know a young woman who smokes? It's time to recognize how smoking can affect a person's health now and in the future.

Chemicals in Cigarette Smoke

Did you know that cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are poisonous? If you smoke, these are just some of the substances you're putting into your body:

• Tar. See those yellow stains on a smoker's teeth? It's caused by tar, a sticky brown substance that contains many toxic chemicals. If the tar from cigarette smoke can stain your teeth, imagine what it does to your lungs! In fact, tar is the main cause of lung and throat cancers in smokers.
• Cyanide is used to make rat poison.
• Formaldehyde is used to preserve dead bodies. Yuck!
• Benzene is found in gasoline.
• Acetone is the main ingredient in nail polish remover.

  Learn more on the girlshealth.gov smoking page. Get all the facts with the girlshealth.gov "Quiting Smoking Fact Sheet" (PDF, 242 Kb).

• Ammonia is found in many disinfectants that you use to clean your house. Ammonia is also an ingredient in fertilizer.
• Nicotine is the drug in cigarette smoke that makes it hard to quit smoking. Nicotine is at least as addictive as heroin. It is also a deadly poison that was once used as an insecticide.

What Are the Health Effects of Smoking in Teens?

If you start smoking cigarettes on a regular basis, you will probably soon experience these health effects:

• shortness of breath
• persistent coughing
• production of phlegm (thick mucus in your throat)
• reduced physical fitness
• yellow stains on your teeth and fingers
• decreased sense of taste and smell
• more colds and flu
• poorer lung growth
• difficulty recovering from minor illnesses

In time, you may notice that you develop facial wrinkles earlier and look older than your friends who don't smoke. This may not seem too important when you're 15, but wait until you're 30 and look like you're 40!

Some day, you may experience one or more of the serious health problems mentioned in Why it's Important to Quit. These include cancer, heart disease, and stroke. If smoking rates stay constant, more than 6.4 million children living today will die of a smoking-related disease.

Why Do Teens Start Smoking?

Almost 90 percent of adults who become regular smokers began smoking at or before age 18. If smoking causes so many health problems, why do teens start smoking?

Teens might take up smoking because their parents or friends smoke. They may see smoking as a way of rebelling and showing their independence. Increasingly, studies are showing that tobacco advertising is a major factor in teens' decisions to start smoking. In fact, it may be an even more important risk factor for smoking than being exposed to parents or friends who smoke.

During elementary school and the early part of middle school, most children have not yet tried a cigarette. If asked, most state that they will never smoke. As they get older, some become more open to the idea of smoking. Studies show that getting a cigarette promotional item makes it almost three times more likely that a teen will start smoking. Such an item may be a T-shirt, toy, or cigarette lighter that has a cigarette brand logo.

Cigarette companies carefully shape their advertising campaigns to portray smokers as cool, independent, fun, sexually attractive, and living on the edge. Some teens are attracted to this image. Being given cigarette promotional items offers them the opportunity to "try on the image of a smoker." As a result, they try smoking and some get hooked.

Another reason that teens start smoking is to stay thin. This is more of a factor for girls than boys. One study reported that half of high school girls who smoke but only one-quarter of high school boys who smoke do so to control their weight.

If you want to lose weight or stay thin, there are better ways to do this than to start smoking. Regular exercise and eating healthy foods will keep you thin without causing health problems. For more information, see the Fitness and Nutrition sections of girlshealth.gov.

Teens and Quitting Smoking

Most teens think that they can stop smoking easily. Only 3 out of 100 high school smokers think they will be smoking in 5 years. In fact, 60 out of 100 will still be smoking 7 to 9 years later, according to the American Cancer Society. It will take 16 to 20 years of addicted smoking before the average person who starts smoking as a teen will be able to successfully quit.

The way for teens to combat the effects of cigarette advertising is to become aware of what's behind it. The fact is—you are being manipulated! If you want to show your independence, don't allow yourself to be manipulated by cigarette advertising.

Additional Information on For Teens:

Publications

1.   Facts on Drugs: Nicotine - This article, written for teens, explains what nicotine is, how it is used, and how many teens use it. It also briefly discusses that different forms of tobacco are not safer than cigarettes.

   http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_nicotine1.asp

2.   I Quit - What to do When You’re Sick of Smoking, Chewing or Dipping - For young people, this text takes an age-appropriate approach to advising youth on successful methods of tobacco cessation. Cleverly illustrated and written in a lively tone, the booklet was originated by the Anne Arundel County Department of Health in Annapolis, MD.

   http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/iquit/index.htm

3.   Marijuana: Facts for Teens - This booklet explains the current knowledge about marijuana and the latest scientific information on its effects. It provides teens with answers to frequently asked questions about marijuana, including what it is, who uses it, how it affects a person physically and mentally after short and long-term use.

   http://www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

4.   Mind Over Matters - Brain's Response to Nicotine, The - This publication discusses the affects of nicotine on the body and brain. It also provides information about the history of tobacco use and why people are quitting smoking now.

   http://teens.drugabuse.gov/mom/mom_nic1.asp

5.   NIDA For Teens - This web site, designed for teens, parents and teachers, was created by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It provides facts on how different drugs affect the body, real stories about teens and their struggles with drugs, and interactive tools and games.

   http://teens.drugabuse.gov/

6.   What You(th) Should Know About Tobacco - This publication contains information to discourage teens from using tobacco. It includes the effects of tobacco on the body and how it can affect athletic performance and physical appearance.

   http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/youth/information_sheets/yuthfax1.htm#What

7. How Can I Quit Smoking? (Copyright © The Nemours Foundation) - This publication, written for teens, explains the steps they can take to quit smoking and live healthier lives.

   http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/quit_smoking.html

8. Smoking (Copyright © Nemours Foundation) - This publication contains information on how tobacco companies target teens to become smokers, the problems of peer pressure, and of the overall dangers of smoking and using tobacco products.

   http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html

9. Teen Quit: To Help You Quit Smoking - You know that you have to quit smoking, but the question is how? Check out this special site just for teens to get tips on quitting. Don't forget to pass this site on to your friends!

   http://www.teenquit.com/indexflash.asp

10. The Scoop on Smoking (Copyright © ASCH) - This site, targeted toward teens, provides information on smoking and tobacco. It includes information on health effects, real-life stories about other teens' struggles with smoking, quizzes to test your knowledge of the effects of smoking, and information on how to quit.

    http://thescooponsmoking.org/

Organizations

1.   National Tobacco Quitline, TCRB, NCI, NIH, HHS
2.   Office on Smoking and Health, NCCDPHP, CDC, HHS
3. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
4. Center for Young Women's Health
5. Kids Health

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated March 19, 2008.