4. Teens and Tobacco
Fewer teens are starting to use tobacco.
Knowing the health risks of tobacco use helps
teens make the healthful decision to stay
tobacco-free.
5. Why Some Teens Use Tobacco
False Belief The Truth
Smoking helps control weight
Smoking reduces the capacity
for physical activity, so it may
lead to weight gain.
Smoking helps cope with stress
Nicotine addiction and
tobacco-related health
problems increase stress.
6. Why Some Teens Use Tobacco
Others believe that smoking will make them seem
mature and independent.
Media images may convince teens that tobacco
use is glamorous.
7. Reduced Tobacco Use Among Teens
The CDC reports that
77 percent of high
school students
nationwide do not
smoke.
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005
8. Reduced Tobacco Use Among Teens
Reasons Teens Are Smoking Less
Tobacco Legislation
No-Smoking Policies
Family Values
Positive Peer Pressure
Health Risks
9. Reduced Tobacco Use Among Teens
Teens who choose a tobacco-free lifestyle will feel
mentally and physically better than teens who use
tobacco.
10. Benefits of Living Tobacco-Free
A tobacco-free lifestyle has many benefits.
The best way to avoid the negative
consequences of tobacco use is never to start
using tobacco products.
11. Benefits of Living Tobacco-Free
Physical Benefits You will have better health and fewer
health risks.
Mental/Emotional
Benefits
You will have less stress and a sense of
freedom.
Social Benefits You will look and feel better.
12. Strategies for Avoiding Tobacco
Use these strategies
to stick to your
decision to live
tobacco-free.
Surround yourself with
positive influences.
Reduce peer pressure.
Be prepared with
refusal skills.
14. Quitting Tobacco Use
There are good reasons for quitting
tobacco use.
Health care professionals can help tobacco users
find the resources they need to successfully quit
using tobacco.
15. Quitting Tobacco Use
Teens who use tobacco give these reasons for quitting:
They begin to have health problems, such as asthma, coughing, or
respiratory infections.
They realize the high cost of tobacco or find it difficult to purchase
tobacco products if they are under 18.
They realize that using tobacco can lead to other risky behaviors,
such as the use of alcohol and other drugs.
They understand the damaging effects of secondhand smoke and do
not want to harm others.
They feel more powerful because they are not controlled by an
addiction to nicotine.
16. Ending the Addiction Cycle
Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include
irritability, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, sleep
disturbances, and cravings for tobacco.
Nicotine withdrawal
The process that occurs in the body
when nicotine, an addictive drug, is no
longer used
17. Ending the Addiction Cycle
Smoking while using nicotine substitutes is
dangerous due to increased nicotine exposure.
Nicotine substitutes
Products that deliver small amounts of
nicotine into the user’s system while he or
she is trying to give up the tobacco habit
18. Getting Help to Quit Tobacco Use
Get support and
encouragement.
Prepare for the quit day.
Replace tobacco use
with healthy behaviors.
Access professional
health services.
19. Getting Help to Quit Tobacco Use
Seek advice from a doctor, enroll in a tobacco
cessation program or join a support group.
Tobacco cessation program
A course that provides information
and help to people who want to stop
using tobacco
20. Getting Help to Quit Tobacco Use
Health care professionals
can help tobacco users
find the resources they
need to successfully quit
using tobacco.
21. After You Read
Reviewing Facts and Vocabulary
1. What are four reasons that smoking
among teens is on a downward trend?
Sample answer: Anti-tobacco messages,
expense, no smoking policies, positive peer
pressure
22. After You Read
Reviewing Facts and Vocabulary
2. List three reasons that you might use to
convince a friend to quit using tobacco
products.
Sample answer: Cost, health problems,
hard to buy
23. After You Read
Reviewing Facts and Vocabulary
3. Why might some people use nicotine
substitutes when quitting smoking?
A nicotine substitute delivers small amounts
of nicotine into the user’s system while the
user is trying to quit a tobacco habit.