Studies on Smoking and children’s health

You want the best for your children. You take the time to make sure they are healthy secure and happy. Then they get to an age where they start making many of their own decisions. If you are nicotine dependent, there is an increased risk that your children will also use tobacco. You already know that once they start smoking, it is a hard habit to overcome. Some studies on smoking and children’s health are there to show how important is change the pattern and the benefits of quitting smoking now for your family.

Parents Influence the Decision to Try Cigarettes

When both parents smoke, there is more of a risk to children smoking than if one parent smokes. Children are just as easily influenced by step-parents as they are by their biological parents. Mothers seem to influence the actions of teens a bit more than fathers. The percentages drop a bit if only one parent smokes, but only by a few points.

A study spanning of families over 23 years show that your child is six times more likely to start smoking if you are a smoker yourself.

The Influence Starts Young

A study conducted in the Netherlands has concluded that having parents who smoke influenced the way children play and pretend to be adults. Those youngsters who had at least one parent who smoked were more likely to pretend to be adults by pretending to smoke a cigarette. These children view cigarette use as a normal adult behaviour.

Siblings Are the Strongest Influence

Teenagers seem to be even more influenced by their older siblings than by their parents. This 23-year study confirms that a teen who has an older sibling that smokes is 15 times more likely to pick up the habit than teens whose siblings are nicotine-free.

Even smoking before your child is born can increase the risk that they also will smoke. Also, children who experiment with nicotine in their preteen and teen years, but do not continue to smoke are still at a higher risk of becoming smokers as adults than those who never experimented.

Tobacco Bans in the Home Help

It has been determined that youngsters who grow up in a home that bans tobacco use are less likely to engage in the habit and are more likely to move out on their own to housing that also bans tobacco usage. The values of the parents do influence the values of the teen. The majority of those who grow up in a home that bans the use of tobacco seems to find little value in nicotine later in their adult lives, even years later.

Parents Who Quit Reduce the Risk

A study in the US confirms that parents who quit smoking also influence their children. In a household where both parents overcame their nicotine addiction, their kids were 40 percent less likely to engage in the habit themselves. Even if both parents smoke and one parent quits, there is still a 25 percent chance that the children will not smoke.

We want to help break the family smoking cycle. At Quit Stop Now, we have helped tens of thousands of Australians quit smoking and break the cycle of nicotine addiction. Our goal is to help smokers from all over the world quit smoking and add years to their lives.