Passive smoking is harmful to children's health. Smoking during pregnancy - how does it affect the child and what harm can it cause Passive smoking in children

Are you concerned about how secondhand smoke may affect your child's health? Wondering what you can do to protect it? This article explains the effects of secondhand smoke and steps you can take to protect children from the negative effects of secondhand smoke.

What is passive smoking?

Passive smoking- This is the inhalation of ambient air containing tobacco smoking products. Such air contains both harmful components of smoke generated from combustion tobacco products(cigarettes, cigars or tobacco in a smoking pipe) - the so-called side smoke (it is more toxic and dangerous), and the smoke that a person smokes exhales - the so-called main smoke. Together they form a secondary tobacco smoke, which consists of approximately four thousand chemical compounds (and according to some sources, more than seven thousand), many of which cause serious diseases. Chemical compounds cause harm not only to the smoker, but also to the surrounding people who are forced to inhale this smoke. Second-hand smoke is often carcinogenic and can cause lung cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease and disease respiratory system.

Where does a child become a passive smoker?

A child can become a passive smoker or a victim of second-hand smoke almost anywhere. Even if your family doesn't smoke, he may feel Negative consequences exposure to second-hand smoke in frequently visited places, such as:

houses of relatives or friends;
kindergarten;
school environment;
restaurants, cafes;
sporting events or concerts;
large shopping centers;
playgrounds.

Consequences of passive smoking during pregnancy

You and the baby developing inside you can be seriously harmed by second-hand smoke. If you are exposed to harmful chemical substances, your child is exposed to this too. This may lead to serious problems with health, such as:

premature termination of pregnancy (miscarriage);
premature birth;
stillbirth;
low birth weight of the newborn;
childhood respiratory disorders;
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS);
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD);
mental disability.

The sooner you quit smoking and avoid passive smoking, the greater the chance that your developing baby will not be harmed, will successfully undergo intrauterine development, and will be born healthy. All pregnant women should avoid inhaling second-hand smoke and make lifestyle changes if loved ones smoke.

Dangers of secondhand smoke for children

Even as your little ones grow up, continuous and constant exposure to second-hand smoke can have negative effects on them. Children are more susceptible to the dangers of secondhand smoke than adults because they have a higher breathing rate and their bodies continue to grow.

Children chronically exposed to second-hand smoke are thought to develop the following illnesses and chronic diseases:

respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia;
asthma and asthma attacks;
chronic cough and sputum production;
ear infections;
pulmonary disorders;
heart defects;
caries.

Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to experience shortness of breath and cough, and tend to take longer to recover from bronchopulmonary infections. Also, passive smoking can cause constant headaches, irritation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, inflammatory processes in the throat and hoarseness of voice.

For children suffering from asthma, second-hand smoke is a real poison, it leads to constant chronic infections respiratory tract, causing attacks to become more severe and require frequent ventilation and trips to the hospital.

Long-term effects of secondhand smoke

Children whose parents or family members smoke are likely to pick up the habit when they grow up. In addition, they are often influenced by peers who smoke at school or university. This means that children either start smoking themselves or are constantly exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke from other smokers. Second-hand smoke not only has immediate effects, but also causes health problems in children later in life. Here are some of these problems:

eye diseases such as early cataracts;
insufficient development of the lungs;
lung carcinoma;
heart defects and cardiovascular diseases;
Chronical bronchitis;
mental disorders.

Smoke-free environment for children

To prevent your child from suffering from severe consequences side effects exposure to passive smoking, it is very important to provide and maintain smoke-free environment. Here are some ways to create such an environment for your child:

Quit smoking. If you've been smoking all these years, quit today! If children see you smoking, they will want to try it themselves. Parental influence is the main factor that pushes a child to smoke. Also, if you smoke, secondhand smoke will have adverse effects on your children. Start with yourself and your home.
Take your children away from places where they are exposed to secondhand smoke. It seems that one can feel safe in places where this moment no one smokes. But the danger of staying in such places does not disappear. Even if no one smokes when your child is around, the chemicals in tobacco smoke linger for hours in the air and on surfaces in previously smoked areas. Try to have your child avoid places where they may be exposed to secondhand smoke.
Ban smoking in the car. Although you may not smoke, if family or friends smoke in your car, it is best to ask them to stop as the smoke will settle on various surfaces of your car and circulate through the HVAC system. This may harm your child great harm. Remember: to clean the air, it is not enough just to open the car window.
Maintain smoke-free environments in schools and day care centers. Try your best to maintain a tobacco-free environment. Enroll your children in schools where smoking is prohibited. Let your child not smoke himself and encourage his peers to quit smoking.

Quitting smoking and avoiding places exposed to secondhand smoke

If you smoke or go to places where you are exposed to secondhand smoke, the most important choice you must make is to stop smoking and avoid places where you are exposed to secondhand smoke. This The best way Avoid the effects of second-hand smoke on your child and yourself. Your home is where you should take the first step - create a smoke-free zone. Danger of development respiratory diseases is significantly reduced if your child is not exposed to second-hand smoke.

Since everyone is aware of the threat posed by inhaling second-hand smoke, we must protect our children from second-hand smoke and smokers. In addition, it is necessary to support children's desire not to smoke. Lifestyle changes and some precautions are all you need to keep your baby strong and healthy!

Passive smoking is the inhalation of air containing tobacco products. The air contains harmful components of a mixture of smoke from tobacco products (sidestream smoke) and exhaled smoke from a person who smokes (mainstream smoke). When a non-smoker inhales tobacco smoke, he receives the same chemical components and toxins as a smoker. In this case, the person must be in close proximity to the smoker. Sidestream smoke is more toxic than mainstream smoke. Open window does not rid the room of cigarette smoke. The smoke from one cigarette can linger indoors for up to three hours. It sticks to furniture, carpets, walls and clothing. According to WHO, about six hundred thousand people die every year from passive smoking.

The effect of passive smoking on the human body

The harm from passive smoking is explained by the fact that tobacco smoke contains about four thousand harmful substances (including about fifty carcinogens), including formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, vinyl chloride, benzene, cadmium and nicotine. The effects of passive smoking on the body can be both short-term and long-term. With a single exposure, all harmful components of smoke are quickly removed from the body and neutralized. Prolonged exposure to smoke can cause coughing, shortness of breath, chest congestion, headache, wheezing, sore throat. Tobacco smoke can also cause dizziness, weakness, and irritate the eyes. Regular inhalation of tobacco smoke doubles the risk of developing lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and tuberculosis. Passive and active smoking significantly increases the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, causing problems with breathing. Inhalation of second-hand smoke very often leads to the development of gastritis. As a result of passive smoking, sometimes there is a tendency to diarrhea or constipation.

The harm of passive smoking is that it is an established factor for the development of lung cancer. Scientists have proven that non-smoking people living with a smoker have a 20-30% increased risk of developing lung cancer (compared to people not living with a smoker). It is estimated that more than three and a half thousand deaths from lung cancer occurring in Russia are associated with passive smoking. Smoking increases the risk of heart attack, interfering normal operation blood, heart and vascular system. That is why, with the existing cardiovascular diseases Even short-term exposure to tobacco smoke should be avoided to avoid suffering from its negative effects.

Why is passive smoking dangerous for children?

Children are very vulnerable to the effects of cigarette smoke. According to research, in Russia, fifty percent of children in Russia contain cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine. Chemical components of smoke inhaled by a nursing mother pass into breast milk. Infants exposed to secondhand smoke can also develop serious infectious diseases respiratory tract. Passive smoking in children can cause an asthma attack. Scientists believe that 50,000-200,000 pulmonary infections (bronchitis, pneumonia) develop in children under one and a half years of age due to regular inhalation of cigarette smoke. A child of a passively or actively smoking mother is most often born with reduced lung function.

Harm of passive smoking during pregnancy

Passive smoking during pregnancy can cause low birth weight in the newborn, which subsequently causes serious visual impairment. Smoke inhalation during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of fetal death from unknown causes. Under the influence of smoke, the fetus's heart rate increases and placental blood flow decreases, which can lead to miscarriage and premature birth. Children whose mothers smoked or inhaled second-hand smoke during pregnancy are more likely to suffer from poor alertness, obesity, and hyperactivity later in life. Scientists have found that newborns exposed to nicotine in utero tend to have impaired sensory and physiological responses, motor skills and attention in the first days of life. Regular inhalation of smoke increases the risk of early and early toxicosis. late pregnancy, difficult to treat. The risk of complications of conception, miscarriage and pregnancy arises equally from both passive and active smoking. Scientists conducted special studies to find out why passive smoking is dangerous. Women who regularly have to breathe tobacco smoke have problems conceiving in 26% of cases, and the risk of miscarriage increases by 39%. In total, 40-50% of women experience certain problems as a result of passive smoking during pregnancy.

No one will see the fact that smoking is harmful. At the same time (according to WHO - World Organization Health) 1.3 billion people, that is, almost every fifth inhabitant of the Earth, are dependent on tobacco products. In terms of addiction, tobacco smoking is second only to alcoholism, while surpassing heroin and cocaine addiction. However, the fact that 75% of men and 26% of women in Russia smoke, and this number is constantly growing, cannot be called anything other than terrifying. Every year, 332 thousand people die worldwide from the consequences of smoking, including passive smoking (WHO data). More than 30% of this amount accounts for child mortality.

“Children and smoking” is a sad, but extremely relevant topic, at least for the reason that a smoking dad is considered almost the norm. And this is not only a bad example, but also the child’s constant passive smoking, starting from the prenatal period. We will tell you in today’s article what consequences does inhaling tobacco smoke have for young children and expectant mothers.

Children and smoking. Consequences of childhood smoking (active and passive)

The consequences of smoking for children are disastrous - for them, the harm caused by the substances that make up cigarette smoke increases significantly. Moreover, this applies not only to active, but also to passive smoking. The child’s body is so weak and defenseless against tobacco poisons that the consequences of even passive smoking can become irreversible. Nicotine, carbon monoxide, toxic tars – terrible enemies of children’s health, preventing the body from directing all its strength to growth, development and the formation of strong immunity; in such conditions we can only talk about survival. It is not possible for a child who smokes or lives in a family of smokers to grow up healthy and strong.

The influence of active and passive smoking on children:

Tobacco poisons affect all organs and systems of the body : lungs, heart and blood vessels, kidneys, liver, stomach, nervous system etc. There is a proven connection between passive smoking and the appearance of chronic diseases.
Cigarette smoke , inhaled by a child, disrupts metabolism , undermining health from childhood.
Toxic substances from tobacco smoke are toxic, they kill brain cells , making the victim of passive smoking absent-minded, nervous, rude, weak-willed, embittered and inadequate.
Intelligence decreases and slows down physical development baby exposed to passive smoking.
"Hereditary" smoking . It is obvious that tobacco addiction is much more likely to occur in a person whose parents (or one of the parents) smoked in childhood.

The deterioration of mental abilities due to smoking is proven by the fact that 95% of repeat students smoke. An American study of 22 thousand adolescent smokers showed that in addition to stunting, these children had a reduced size chest and poorly developed lungs. Girls who smoke start sex earlier sex life and look worse than their healthy peers.

We think that the harm of any kind of smoking, including passive smoking, for children is now obvious to you. The only way to protect your child from the above dangers is to completely stop smoking.

The effect of smoking on conceiving a child

The effect of smoking on the unborn child is an issue that worries many families planning a pregnancy. The peak of smoking among Russians occurs at the most childbearing age, 20-29 years.

Smoking and conceiving a child are poorly compatible concepts. The effects of tobacco reduce reproductive function future parents , so conceiving a baby becomes much more difficult. Infertility in smoking women occurs one and a half times more often than in non-smokers!

A real fact for women smokers seeking IVF help: 24% of embryos implant in non-smoking women, and 2 times less in tobacco-dependent women.

A man's smoking can also make it more difficult for him to conceive a child. Male smokers suffer from deteriorating sperm quality , but that's not the worst thing. When planning a pregnancy, it is not for nothing that both partners are advised to quit smoking: tobacco smoke directly affects DNA, can deform sperm, and the result is genetic mutation fetus and, accordingly, miscarriage or the birth of a sick child.

The father's smoking also affects future children from the point of view that it poisons the health of his partner, who becomes a passive smoker.

The influence of smoking on the development of a child: active and passive smoking during pregnancy and after the birth of a baby

If a woman smokes during pregnancy , this in 5 cases out of 100 leads to intrauterine death of the fetus, increases the risk of miscarriage, congenital pathologies and deformities, intrauterine growth retardation, premature birth and stillbirth. In the womb, the child of a pregnant smoker literally suffocates from carbon monoxide, which is part of tobacco smoke. The result is intrauterine hypoxia, the consequences of which can be the most terrible. In addition, smoking during pregnancy will almost certainly cause the birth of a low birth weight baby. On average, the weight of a newborn child of a smoking mother is 250 grams less than that of a non-smoking mother.

Future dad smoking also harmful to the fetus. Starting from the prenatal period, we can talk about passive smoking and its effect on the child. A baby during pregnancy is completely defenseless, because he cannot resist the effects of harmful substances from tobacco smoke. And a pregnant woman often becomes an unwitting passive smoker if one of the family members smokes at home. Secondary smoke inhaled by a person through passive smoking contains most of the 4,000 harmful components of tobacco smoke, 50 of which are carcinogenic. Thus, all these toxic substances are transmitted to the child through the mother’s blood - this is the “gift” the baby receives from loving relatives even before birth.

A newborn living in a family of smokers has a 3 times higher risk of dying from the syndrome sudden death baby, compared to a normal baby.

If the risks of passive smoking bypassed the child, he was born alive and seems quite healthy in the first months, you should not deceive yourself: the impact of hazardous substances on the body, especially such a small and defenseless one, never passes without a trace. Sooner or later, the consequences of passive smoking will certainly manifest themselves in the form of developmental delays, chronic diseases, weak immunity baby.

Children and passive smoking are not just poorly combined words; cigarette smoke naturally poisons a child. Poor health, moodiness, inability to concentrate, bad memory, lethargy and nervousness are sad prospects awaiting children who grow up under a veil of smoke.

How does parental smoking affect the child?

Smoking in the presence of a child, unfortunately, is commonplace in our country. A dad smoking directly into a stroller or confidently lighting a cigarette next to his own offspring does not surprise anyone. “It’s good that there is a dad at all,” women think. It’s hard to argue with this, but there’s no need to give up in the fight for your child’s health! It’s not the baby’s fault at all that adults don’t want to think with their heads.

According to statistical estimates, up to 30% of parents smoke quietly in the presence of their own child, in an apartment with the windows closed. Do they know that passive smoking can inhibit the development of a baby’s lungs by 80%?..

We will disappoint those who think that smoking by dad or mom is not so great evil, if you smoke in the entrance, on the street or on the balcony: tobacco residue on the clothes, body and hair of adults, household items, and the remains of smoke exhaled by the smoker affect children in almost the same way as the smoker himself.

Passive smoking in children leads to development various diseases respiratory system organs : bronchitis, severe forms of asthma, pneumonia, etc. Ammonia contained in tobacco smoke is dissolved by moist mucous membranes and turns into ammonia, which increases mucus production. The result is a wet cough.

In addition, children of smokers are more likely to:

allergies;
immune abnormalities;
infectious and viral diseases;
mental disorders;
risk of leukemia (blood cancer).

Studies regarding passive smoking in children have shown disappointing results: for the youngest (under 3 years old), the likelihood of acquiring a particular respiratory disease increased by 56%, even if only the father smoked; by 95% - if the mother smokes during breastfeeding; In older children (7-14 years old) exposed to secondhand smoke, obvious signs of respiratory distress were observed.

Why do children and teenagers smoke?

The topic of childhood smoking is inextricably linked with the prevalence of tobacco addiction in adults. After all, it is the parents who show the child an example of how to behave in life. As you know, a bad behavior pattern is much brighter and more contagious. It doesn’t matter whether the family is prosperous, the children will equally copy everything you do. Did you know that 80% of teens who smoke have at least one parent who smokes? Moreover, if the father smokes, the son will almost certainly smoke, and if the mother smokes, then the daughter will...

Even in non-smoking families, however, there is a risk that a teenager will take up a cigarette - the information propaganda of smoking is too great. Add to this the desire to appear older, “cooler”, self-doubt, the precariousness of a teenager’s psyche... The statistics are not surprising: among fifth-graders, 15% of boys and 1% of girls smoke, by the senior grades 53% of boys and 28% of girls have already taken up the bad habit .

How to protect your child from the effects of passive smoking?

Quitting smoking completely is the only sensible decision you can make regarding cigarettes. loving parents. There can be no compromises here! By hugging and kissing the baby, even a dad who smokes exclusively on the street “gives” him a whole cloud of poisons and carcinogens.

If you convince a smoker that he is killing dear baby, does not seem realistic, at least ventilate the apartment more often! Buy an air purifier. Prohibit household members and guests from smoking at home.

For those living in an apartment where a heavy smoker previously lived, it is advisable to make repairs, since the walls, ceiling and floor in this case remain saturated with tobacco smoke.

On the street, when walking with a baby, even non-smoking parents need to be careful. Avoid places where someone is standing nearby and smoking; do not go into smoky rooms with your child.

If your child is exposed to second-hand smoke, you should ensure that his diet contains sufficient amounts of antioxidants, in particular vitamin C.

Awareness of the harm of children's smoking, even passive smoking, is the first step towards the health of the whole family. We wish all smokers to get rid of this habit, which has already claimed many lives, as soon as possible. Don’t look at those around you who are smoking with all their might – think with your own head! Health to your children!

Second-hand smoke is the smoke that comes from a cigarette and is exhaled by the smoker. People in the West started talking about its dangers in the 70s of the last century. In Russia, unfortunately, this problem is still given very little importance.

It is known that cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 different chemicals, including 250 toxic ones, some of which are carcinogens, that is, substances that can cause cancer. These include formaldehyde, arsenic, ammonia, benzene, vinyl chloride, and hydrocyanic acid. Even worse, many of these carcinogens are present in higher concentrations in second-hand smoke than in the smoke that enters a smoker's lungs after passing through a filter.

Statistics

Children are more likely to suffer from secondhand smoke than non-smoking adults. In the body of a child aged 3-11 years, the content of cotinine, a biological marker of nicotine consumption, is 2 times higher than in non-smoking adults exposed to tobacco smoke.

The harm of passive smoking

The number of complaints from smoking parents about their children's illnesses is increasing. This is not surprising, since there are more and more smokers, and the developing children's body very sensitive to toxic substances.

The severity of diseases developing under the influence of second-hand tobacco smoke is greater, the more younger child. At the same time, doctors draw attention to the fact that most of the harm caused by cigarette smoke to a child will appear only after several decades.

Children who often have to inhale tobacco smoke suffer from many organs and systems.

Intestines

Under the influence of passive smoking, irritation can develop in children's intestines, leading to diseases such as colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.

Lungs

Lung underdevelopment is not the biggest problem. These children have a high probability of developing lung cancer in adulthood.

Important!

Cotinine levels are higher in children whose homes allow smoking. And the more cigarettes parents smoke, the more nicotine enters the child’s body.

Chronic cough

Passive smoking is also important factor development of chronic cough in children, which produces purulent sputum.

This condition can be a very serious illnesses lungs, so it is always of great concern.

Tuberculosis

If there is a person in the family with tuberculosis, and at least one family member smokes, a large share chances are that the child will also get tuberculosis.

Asthma

Smoking in the home often causes childhood asthma: if at least one parent smokes, the likelihood of its development in a child increases by 1.5 times. Preschoolers have an almost 50% higher risk than children school age. And in children who already have asthma, exposure to second-hand smoke increases the number, duration, and severity of attacks.

Cancer

Not only the lungs are affected, but also other organs, including the brain. Moreover, cancer can develop even in children whose mothers do not smoke, but are exposed to high levels of second-hand smoke.

Meningitis

The child's brain may also be affected meningococcal infection, which leads to meningitis and meningococcal sepsis.

Caries

Although Small child does not put a cigarette in his mouth, passive smoking still increases the risk of developing caries.

Important!

Long lasting breast-feeding can become a prevention of respiratory infections that develop under the influence of second-hand tobacco smoke.

Respiratory infections

Passive smoking suppresses the immune system, so the child’s body is more susceptible to respiratory infections. These children are more likely to suffer from bronchitis and pneumonia, especially during the first two years of life.

Shortness of breath, snoring, adenoids, tonsillitis, sore throat - these diseases are also caused by passive smoking. Heaviness colds As a rule, the number of children of smoking parents increases, so they often have to be hospitalized.

Ear infections

Children of smokers suffer more from otitis media. The risk is greater in babies born with low birth weight, in children under two years of age, and in those whose mothers smoke a lot. Reducing exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke can reduce the number of cases ear infection up to 27%.

Behavior, development and learning

Children who are vulnerable to tobacco smoke are more likely to exhibit inappropriate behavior in the first years of life. A smoking mother will have to blame herself for the child’s developmental delay, hyperactivity, attention problems, learning difficulties, and poor relationships of the child with peers. These deviations usually become noticeable by the age of three.

Important!

The negative impact of tobacco on a child’s health increases if the mother smokes.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

A greater amount of nicotine is found in the lungs of children who suddenly died than in a control group of healthy children.

There are other data that allowed doctors to conclude that maternal smoking is the second cause of sudden infant death after sleeping on the back. Both maternal smoking after birth and paternal smoking increase the risk of SIDS.

When lighting a cigarette, a heavy smoker rarely thinks about the inconvenience and harm he causes to the people around him. First of all, this concerns those closest to us - family. Not everyone enjoys inhaling clouds of “fragrant” smoke, but, unfortunately, not everyone thinks about it, putting their own selfish desires first. And if the family is faced with such a problem as a child smoking, then panic may begin. What to do?

How does a habit start?

Cigarette smoke - treacherous enemy. His harmful influence on the body is not immediately noticeable, unlike a habit, which forms quite quickly. The desire to smoke occurs when nervous tension, after eating and when you get bored. The habitual ritual of deep puffing creates the illusion of busyness; the smoke of cigarettes relaxes and soothes. At the same time, nicotine alkaloids, which over time cause persistent addiction, settle on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and penetrate through the blood vessels into the brain, where they actively influence the nerve receptors responsible for pleasure. Thus, psychological reasons The emergence of habits is closely intertwined with physiological reasons.

Smoking is a time bomb

They narrow from the effects of nicotine blood vessels, respectively, brain nutrition and internal organs getting worse. Vision suffers, the lungs become contaminated, and “smoker’s cough” occurs, chronic bronchitis, accompanied by a morning cough with unpleasant expectoration. In addition to nicotine, tobacco smoke contains a number of tars that have a carcinogenic effect, radioactive polonium and poisons such as formaldehyde, arsenic, and cyanide. These harmful substances are not completely eliminated from the body, accumulating over time and contributing to the degeneration of healthy cells into cancer cells. But these processes are sufficiently delayed in time, so no doctor will indicate smoking as the direct cause of the disease, only as a concomitant factor. The cause-and-effect relationship seems to be broken; smokers have no fear that their habit will certainly lead to deterioration in their health.

Passive and active smoking

Smoking can be active, when a person consciously exposes himself to nicotine, and passive, when the product of burning a cigarette is inhaled by people around him. The so-called is especially dangerous for children. Parents who smoke put their children at risk. Smoking often causes allergic reactions, asthma, chronic bronchitis at their child. Even the smell coming from the mouth and clothes of a mother who has just smoked a cigarette is harmful to a baby, not to mention the nicotine that he receives from breast milk. During pregnancy, with every puff, a woman provokes oxygen deficiency in the fetus, which can subsequently negatively affect its mental abilities and cause congenital physical and neuropsychic underdevelopment. Parents smoking in front of a teenager causes psychological addiction to the process; it seems normal and makes the first step to a cigarette easier. There is no need to think that if you were born to smoking parents healthy child, then there will be no problems in the future. Unfortunately, they can occur much later, not only in the child himself, but also in his descendants.

If a child smokes

A child smoking today, unfortunately, is not a rare phenomenon. In the teenage environment, strict morals reign in order to appear more mature and cool, children begin to smoke and use obscene language, and try alcohol. Not necessarily a smoker the child will go downhill, but the chances of this increase dramatically. In these children, growth often slows down, gastrointestinal function deteriorates, shortness of breath appears, and heartbeat. The first people to suffer from nicotine addiction are: cerebral blood supply, which sharply reduces its functions. Memory and logical thinking are impaired, concentration and coordination deteriorate. Slowly, almost imperceptibly changes hormonal background. The teenager becomes more abrupt and nervous; during puberty, problems with underweight or, on the contrary, excess weight may appear. Girls often have violations menstrual cycle, in young men there are malfunctions of the reproductive system.

Reasons for early smoking among young people

Statistics show that children smoke cigarettes for the following reasons:

Smoking by parents or older siblings. Especially relevant for children from 9 to 12 years old.
It's bad company when teenagers get together and try to drink and smoke together. The problem affects children of different personalities: the ringleaders will try first and will persistently treat their friends, and shy and introverted children find it difficult to say “no.”
The desire to appear more mature, to earn authority in one’s environment.
If there is a conflict situation at home and the child feels lonely and misunderstood.
Young girls are often carried away by the images of screen stars, in order to get closer to them, they begin to dress more openly, use bright makeup, and start smoking.

What to do if your child starts smoking

Do you have a child who smokes? What to do? No need to scream or hit him, it usually does reverse effect. In a conversation, it is better to use the arguments “I’m very upset”, “I’m worried” and not “you upset me”; getting personal causes aggression and a desire to defend yourself. Open confrontation rarely gives desired result, you need to try to gently and imperceptibly switch the child’s interests, to remove him from the unwanted company in which it is customary to smoke. The easiest way to find allies is among athletes who adhere to a healthy lifestyle. A good coach and friends in a section or circle can become comrades for many years, and sport will help develop will and character.

Smoking and children: prevention of bad habits

Nationally, the number of children who smoke is simply appalling. We must strive to correct the situation by all means, replacing bad habits good. The desire to try something new is natural for the child’s psyche; the task of adults is to promptly direct energy and curiosity in the right direction. The best prevention teenage bad habits- This own example. Parents should try to encourage sports and instill a love for it in children from a very young age. Many people forget about culture; this is another important component of our lives. Joint visits to museums, theaters, watching and discussing good movies and reading books, not occasionally, but regularly. All this will help not to lose common ground and maintain your own authority in the eyes of the child, create trusting, deep relationships.

No smoking! Health - yes

In people who smoke, the skin becomes yellowish, and the breath and hair smell unpleasant. This bad habit wastes a lot of money and free time, which can be used with greater benefit and pleasure. Everyone can easily calculate the monetary cost; they think about the time costs less often, and this is neither more nor less, from 10 to 15 days every year! In addition, due to the constant impact on the nervous system, smokers are emotionally unstable, they fall asleep worse, sleep is quite disturbing and is regularly disturbed by coughing attacks and numbness of the limbs. As soon as the smoker wakes up, he reaches for a cigarette to inhale that desired tobacco smoke again, especially if he is under the influence of alcohol. This often causes fires in which the culprit himself and members of his family die.

Of course, refusing bad habits, humanity will not get rid of all health problems at once, but there will be significantly fewer of them, that’s a fact. Healthy image life, the habit of eating right and playing sports from early childhood can improve the health of the nation and prolong youth. Children, one way or another, repeat the path of their parents, being stricter with themselves and their actions, we help our children choose the right one. life path. Life can be wonderful without smoking!