The Effect Of Smoking
3:21 AM
The Effects of Smoking: Death Toll Will Double by 2020
Health Conditions
By the year 2020, 10 million people will be dying each year from smoking-related health causes. That staggering estimate is approximately double the current worldwide death rate from the effects of smoking, and may rise even higher in subsequent years if current trends are not reversed. The primary culprit, according to researchers, is the surprising popularity of smoking among teens and young people
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, teen smoking rates stand at approximately 9% worldwide. In addition, 11% of young people around the world report using chewing tobacco, hookah pipes and other tobacco products. Also troubling to researchers was that, for the first time, the "smoking gap" between the genders appeared to be narrowing. Past studies of the side effects of smoking had estimated that young males were approximately four times more likely to smoke than girls. However, more recent research by the Centers for Disease Control and others shows the disparity to be much more narrow and growing smaller by the year. In some countries included in the survey, male and female teen smoking rates were roughly identical.
Facts About Smoking: Family and Peer Pressure
So where are all these new teen smokers coming from, given that awareness campaigns about the side effects of smoking are more prevalent than ever? New facts about smoking show that many teen smokers may simply be following in the footsteps of parents, older siblings, friends, and other role models. In conjunction with the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, a study published in the British medical journal Lancet takes aim at the relationship between teen smoking and teens' relationships with family and friends. More than 40% of teens worldwide say that they have been exposed to secondhand smoke and other effects of smoking in the home. Most often, secondhand smoke is the result of parents and older siblings lighting up indoors. In addition, a full half of teens report exposure to smoking and secondhand smoke among their peer group. However, peer pressure appears to be a stronger influence among some teenage cohorts than others. Among adolescents from the Indian subcontinent, sixth graders were up to four times more likely to smoke than eighth graders. That finding was particularly shocking to the study's authors, as it indicates that smoking may be more popular among younger adolescents. If so, even the 10 million death toll quoted by researchers may be too low of an estimate of the true side effects of smoking.
Health Conditions
By the year 2020, 10 million people will be dying each year from smoking-related health causes. That staggering estimate is approximately double the current worldwide death rate from the effects of smoking, and may rise even higher in subsequent years if current trends are not reversed. The primary culprit, according to researchers, is the surprising popularity of smoking among teens and young people
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, teen smoking rates stand at approximately 9% worldwide. In addition, 11% of young people around the world report using chewing tobacco, hookah pipes and other tobacco products. Also troubling to researchers was that, for the first time, the "smoking gap" between the genders appeared to be narrowing. Past studies of the side effects of smoking had estimated that young males were approximately four times more likely to smoke than girls. However, more recent research by the Centers for Disease Control and others shows the disparity to be much more narrow and growing smaller by the year. In some countries included in the survey, male and female teen smoking rates were roughly identical.
Facts About Smoking: Family and Peer Pressure
So where are all these new teen smokers coming from, given that awareness campaigns about the side effects of smoking are more prevalent than ever? New facts about smoking show that many teen smokers may simply be following in the footsteps of parents, older siblings, friends, and other role models. In conjunction with the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, a study published in the British medical journal Lancet takes aim at the relationship between teen smoking and teens' relationships with family and friends. More than 40% of teens worldwide say that they have been exposed to secondhand smoke and other effects of smoking in the home. Most often, secondhand smoke is the result of parents and older siblings lighting up indoors. In addition, a full half of teens report exposure to smoking and secondhand smoke among their peer group. However, peer pressure appears to be a stronger influence among some teenage cohorts than others. Among adolescents from the Indian subcontinent, sixth graders were up to four times more likely to smoke than eighth graders. That finding was particularly shocking to the study's authors, as it indicates that smoking may be more popular among younger adolescents. If so, even the 10 million death toll quoted by researchers may be too low of an estimate of the true side effects of smoking.
