How to protect young people from the dangers of tobacco | World No Tobacco Day
May 31, 2024 is the 37th World No Tobacco Day. This year’s theme is “Protecting Youth from the Harm of Tobacco”.
Young people are the hope of the country and the future of society. Carrying out youth tobacco control activities will help guide teenagers to establish a healthy life philosophy and protect them from traditional tobacco products and e-cigarettes. We call on the whole society to work together to create a smoke-free living environment for young people and protect their healthy growth.
16-year-old Xiao Zhang has been smoking for two years. His grandfather and father not only smoke, but also tell him that smoking can refresh him. At first, he also felt that smoking was very choking, but slowly, he smoked from one cigarette occasionally to two or three cigarettes a day, to more than 10 cigarettes a day now. At first, he, who loved running, didn't think that smoking had any bad effect on his health. But recently, during his running training, he found himself chest tightness and sometimes wheezing. The coach told him that he must quit smoking, otherwise it would affect his respiratory function and endurance, and it would be difficult to improve his running performance.
Smoking among teenagers mainly has the following hazards.
★More susceptible to addiction. Adolescence is a critical period for developing behavioral habits. The younger the age when you start smoking, the greater the risk of lifelong smoking, which will cause continuous harm to the body.
★Health damage is more serious. Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 69 known carcinogens. During adolescence, the development of various systems and organs is immature. Their resistance to harmful external factors is weak and they are more susceptible to The absorption of toxic substances, which impairs the body's normal growth and the health of its organs, can increase the risk of chronic disease in adulthood.
★ Damage to brain function The adolescent brain is still in the process of development. The limbic system that controls cognition, emotion and reward gradually matures in adolescence, and is particularly susceptible to the long-term effects of nicotine. Abnormal activation of nicotinic receptors in adolescence can cause Continuous changes in neuronal signaling. Research shows that nicotine exposure during adolescence not only leads to addiction but also leads to long-term deficits in learning and cognitive processes, such as decreased attention and memory, increased impulsivity and anxiety.
17-year-old Xiao Liu is a sophomore in high school. In order to relieve the anxiety caused by the pressure of study, he started to try smoking in pursuit of perfection. As the pressure from schoolwork increased, so did his daily smoking. During an exam, he was distracted by a cigarette craving, causing his grades to slip. In response, he made up his mind to quit smoking, but failed every time. Later, he learned about the smoking cessation clinic on the Internet and went to the hospital for treatment. Under the guidance of a doctor, Xiao Liu successfully quit smoking.
Teenagers have been exposed to tobacco for a relatively short time, and their degree of addiction is mild. Helping teenagers to quit smoking through active health education and behavioral guidance, such as health lectures and watching educational films on the dangers of tobacco, can help them establish awareness of the dangers of tobacco and teach them how to refuse First puff of cigarette.
People who have difficulty quitting smoking can receive intensive smoking cessation intervention. Those who have failed many attempts to quit smoking and are >18 years old can improve the success rate of quitting smoking through comprehensive treatment of smoking cessation drugs combined with psychological intervention and behavioral intervention.
13-year-old Xiaobao is a student in a junior high school boarding school. Once, when the teacher checked the dormitory toilet, he found the cigarette butts he threw, and immediately talked to him, told him the dangers of smoking, and communicated with his parents. The teacher watched the tobacco control promotional video with him and helped him formulate a smoking cessation plan. While Xiaobao was quitting smoking, his teachers helped him adjust his study and life rhythm, and his parents also encouraged him. With the help of teachers and parents, Xiaobao finally succeeded in quitting smoking.
Smoking cessation among teenagers cannot be separated from the joint efforts of families and schools. Similarly, tobacco control also requires joint efforts.
Parents are the first and most important line of defense to protect their children. The family environment leads children to develop behaviors that can last a lifetime. Research has found that health behaviors have strong intergenerational transmission. Smoking rates among adolescents are significantly higher in households where parents smoke. If parents smoke, their children will follow suit, and if parents take the lead in quitting smoking, they will set an example for their children and inspire their willingness to quit smoking. Regarding smoking control, parents need to lead their children and be the first person responsible for their own health.
School is an important transition for teenagers from family life to society, and has a great impact on teenagers' behavioral habits and values. Teacher groups and smoke-free campus management are two key factors. On the one hand, if teachers smoke, it will have a serious negative impact on students. On the other hand, for teenagers, peers have the strongest influence. If there are omissions in campus management, many teenagers will smoke with their classmates out of a herd mentality. Schools can control smoking by setting up health education courses, encouraging peer education, and strengthening anti-smoking management.
The continuous development of social media and the Internet has provided a more powerful communication platform for tobacco promotion. The smoking behavior of actors in film and television dramas can also easily mislead young people. From a social perspective, prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to minors, prohibiting tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship, strictly controlling smoking scenes in movies and TV dramas, and strengthening the construction of smoke-free environments in public places and the promotion of a smoke-free culture are all important aspects of tobacco control. measure.
Author: Cheng Anqi, Department of Smoking Control and Respiratory Disease Prevention and Control, China-Japan Friendship Hospital
Xiao Dan, researcher and professor at the Department of Smoking Control and Respiratory Disease Prevention and Control, China-Japan Friendship Hospital
