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Tobacco and Cancer Programme International Union Against Cancer 3, Rue du Conseil-Général, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: (4122) 809 1830, Fax: (4122) 809 1810 E-mail: tobacco-control@globalink.org | Tobacco and Cancer Programme |
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Smoking prevalence
Children become aware of cigarettes at an early age. In the United Kingdom, surveys have shown that three out of four children are aware of cigarettes before they reach the age of 5 whether the parents smoke or not; at 10 years old as many as 40% of boys and 28% of girls have had at least a few puffs of a cigarette (1) and about one-third of those who become regular smokers have started before age 9 (2). Large regional studies of children's smoking habits in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s showed that more boys smoked than girls and that boys started earlier (3). In 1982, the first national survey of smoking among children in the UK found that 11% of 11-16 year-olds were smoking regularly (4). Since then, there has been a fall in prevalence among boys (from 13% in 1984 to 9% in 1990) and less markedly among girls (from 13% to 11%) (5). The 1988 survey included for the first time results from saliva tests from half the children surveyed; this double check may have encouraged them to be more honest about their smoking habits. The proportion of regular smokers increases sharply with age. A 1990 study found that in England 2% of 12-year-old pupils smoked, 13% of 14-year-olds, and 25% of pupils aged 15 were regular smokers (5).
What factors influence children to start smoking?
Children whose parents smoke are more likely to smoke themselves and parents' approval or disapproval of the habit is an even more significant factor (1). Numerous studies have shown that most young smokers are influenced by their friends' and older siblings' smoking habits. While it is difficult to prove that cigarette advertising encourages children to start smoking, children tend to smoke the brands that are promoted most heavily and advertising reinforces the smoking habit (6). Advertising also creates the impression that smoking is a socially acceptable norm. Sports sponsorship by tobacco companies and particularly the televising of sponsored events increases children's awareness of the brands (7) and those children with favourite advertisements have been shown to have more positive views on smoking than those without. Children also identify the use of cigarette brand imagery for other products or services, e.g. Silk Cut Holidays, as advertisements for cigarettes and are attracted to the imagery conveyed (8).
Smoking and children's health
Children who smoke are more susceptible to coughs and increased phlegm and are more likely to have chest illness than those who do not smoke (9). A recent study revealed that children who smoke are 3 times more likely to have time off school (10). The earlier children become regular smokers and persist in the habit as adults, the greater the risk of dying prematurely. Children are also more susceptible to the effects of passive smoking, and cotinine levels found in the saliva of children whose parents smoke indicate that in households where both parents smoke, the children are receiving a nicotine equivalent of smoking 80 cigarettes a year (11). Bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses are significantly more common in the first year of life in children who have one or two smoking parents (12). Children of parents who smoke during the child's early life run a higher risk of cancer in adulthood (13), and the larger the number of smokers in a household, the greater the cancer risk to non-smokers in the family. Children whose mothers smoke ten or more cigarettes a day after the fourth month of pregnancy tend to show poorer progress at school, at least up to the age of 16 (14).
Smoking prevention
Anti-smoking campaigns conducted in the 1970s were not generally successful in preventing children from taking up the habit, although pupils' awareness of the associated health risks was improved (3). During the 1980s, campaigns were more successful in preventing the uptake of smoking, especially those in which children took an active part in promoting the anti-smoking message (15). New initiatives include "Smokebusters", a network of clubs for children aged between 10 and 13 which encourage children to accept non-smoking as the norm.
Economic factors have an important effect on children's smoking habits and evidence from the USA suggests that teenagers are even more responsive to price increases than are adults.
Children, smoking and the law
In a number of countries including the UK, it is illegal to sell any tobacco product to anyone below the age of 16, in others the age is 18. In spite of the law, however, it is estimated that children aged 11-16 in Britain spend up to £90 million a year on cigarettes (16), and in 1986 a survey found that as many as 89% of regular smokers said that they bought cigarettes from shops.
It is clear, therefore, that laws restricting the sale of cigarettes to young people below the age of either 16 or 18, must be enforced and the effectiveness of such measures regularly monitored.
UICC Recommendation
UICC recommends all countries to adopt policies to protect young people from tobacco promotion and sales and prevent the onset of tobacco use.
Acknowledgement
This Tobacco Control Fact Sheet is based on Fact Sheets produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) United Kingdom.
References:
March 1993
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Tobacco and Cancer Programme International Union Against Cancer 3, Rue du Conseil-Général, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: (4122) 809 1830, Fax: (4122) 809 1810 E-mail: tobacco-control@globalink.org | Tobacco and Cancer Programme |
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