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| |    Children and Tobacco by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. Tobacco is, quite simply, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Smoking is extremely addictive. If you're a smoker yourself, you know this from firsthand experience. You are probably even more motivated than nonsmoking parents to make sure your child escapes the cigarette trap. The younger a person is when he starts smoking, the greater the risk that he will become hooked. More than half of adults who smoke began when they were younger than 18--that is, when they were children. As early as eighth grade, when children are polled, one in seven admits smoking within the last 30 days. Since smoking so often starts in childhood, your personal war on tobacco should begin when your child is very young. The message you convey about smoking needs to fit with your child's developmental level. For example, no child worries about the prospect of lung cancer in 40 years; that is unimaginably far away. Children and teens care about specific, concrete outcomes. The younger child should learn that smoking will make him a worse athlete, less popular, and look like a dork. Teens need to hear that smoking makes them smell bad and causes bad breath (which the opposite sex hates), and that it is the opposite of cool. Instead of looking older, teens who smoke actually look younger, like children playing dress up in their parents' clothes--in other words, like kids trying to look like adults. Media images of robust, attractive people kayaking the rapids with a butt in their mouth should be discussed and labeled as what they are: pure hype motivated by greed for profits. It should be an unequivocal family value that "smoking stinks.'' Also, be sure to keep the lines of communication open. If your child is being tempted to smoke or has experimented with tobacco, she needs to feel free to discuss it with you, not worry that you will go ballistic. You will get a lot further by talking about it than by just forbidding something that you can't really stop from happening anyway. After you've had honest conversations about smoking, avoid any further lectures, sharp questions, or snooping. That could only provoke a child to rebel. Don't be a scold. You're just going to have to count on your child's good sense. One last-and vital-point: Children of smokers are more likely to smoke themselves. If you are a smoker, this is a very strong argument for quitting.
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