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Prevention

By Mayo Clinic staff

The best way to prevent tobacco dependence is to not smoke in the first place. The best way to prevent your children from smoking is to not smoke yourself. If you're a parent who smokes, the younger your children are when you quit, the less likely they are to become smokers themselves.

Even if you don't smoke, here are some things you might try as a parent:

  • Promote smoke-free environments. Support legislation to make all workplaces smoke-free. Encourage smoke-free public places, including restaurants or other places where your teen may work.
  • Support legislation to increase taxes on tobacco products. Higher prices discourage teens from starting to smoke. Higher prices on tobacco products, coupled with smoke-free workplace laws, are the most effective public health policies to reduce smoking in adults and prevent young people from ever starting.
  • Talk with your teenagers. Ask whether their friends smoke. Most teenagers smoke their first cigarette with a friend who already smokes. Let your child know that other forms of tobacco, including cigars and smokeless tobacco, also carry significant health risks.
  • Learn what your children think about smoking. Ask them to read this article so that you can discuss it together. You can be a great influence on whether your children smoke, despite what they see in movies and on the Internet.
  • Help your children explore personal feelings. Use nonjudgmental questions and rehearse with them how they could handle tough situations regarding peer pressure and smoking.
  • Note the social repercussions. Remind your teenager that smoking gives you bad breath and makes your hair and clothes smell.
  • Work with your schools. Become active in community and school stop-smoking programs.
Coping and support
References
  1. Cigarette smoking. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/cigarettesmoking/cigarette-smoking-toc. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  2. Guide to quitting smoking. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/guidetoquittingsmoking/index. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. Questions about smoking, tobacco and health. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/questionsaboutsmokingtobaccoandhealth/questions-about-smoking-tobacco-and-health-intro-and-background. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  4. DrugFacts: Cigarettes and other tobacco products. National Institute on Drug Abuse. http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/cigarettes-other-tobacco-products. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  5. Horn K, et al. Effects of physical activity on teen smoking cessation. Pediatrics. 2011:128:e801.
  6. Schroeder SA. New evidence that cigarette smoking remains most important health hazard. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2013;368:389.
  7. Child and teen tobacco use. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/childandteentobaccouse/child-and-teen-tobacco-use-child-and-teen-tobacco-use. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  8. Rigotti NA, et al. Benefits of smoking cessation. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  9. Preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults: A report of the surgeon general — Executive summary. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2012/index.htm. Accessed April 16, 2013.
  10. Danovitch I. The clinical assessment and treatment of nicotine dependence. Focus. 2011;9:15.
  11. Frequently asked questions about quitlines. Smokefree.gov. http://www.smokefree.gov/quitlines-faq.aspx. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  12. Quit guide: Clearing the air. Smokefree.gov. http://www.smokefree.gov/quit-guide.aspx. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  13. Find tools to help you quit. Smokefree.gov. http://www.smokefree.gov/tools.aspx. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  14. A report on the surgeon general: How tobacco smoking causes disease — The biology and behavioral basis for smoking-attributable disease fact sheet. Surgeongeneral.gov. www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/tobaccosmoke/factsheet.html. Accessed April 18, 2013.
  15. Ebbert JO (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 23, 2013.
  16. Nicotine replacement therapy labels may change. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm345087.htm. Accessed April 26, 2013.
  17. Hurt RD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 15, 2013.
DS00307 June 4, 2013

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