Smoking and Erectile Dysfunction in Men

ANTI-SMOKING POSTER

WARNING:


SMOKING 
CAUSES
MALE SEXUAL IMPOTENCE

FERTILITY, SEXUALITY AND SMOKING-1

Smoking and sexual health




Smoking weakens your sexual health and your desire to make love as well as your potency. American doctors have arrived to this disappointing for inveterate smokers conclusion. As an example they provide declarations of young people who smoked heavily during a year and soon understood, that the dots of light of their cigarette had nothing to do with the fire of love for women.


Sharon Stone in the movie Basic Instinct sexily smokes her cigarette anticipating a big love. It may seem sexy for some men. But in real sex life smoking is simply a narcotic with all its harmfull effects.


Researches from the University of Reproductive Physiology and Andrology (Kentucky, USA)claim that smoking affects male sexual health dramatically. They examined 290 married couples, who wanted to rid themselves from infertility. The scientists carried out a questionarre survey in order to find out their pacients attitude to smoking. The survey showed that no woman under study smoked. However 158 men at the age from 26 to 35 smoked up to 30 cigarettes a day for more than 7 years.


The results of the survey proved the doctors assumption that mens smoking influenced their fertility negatively. In addition it was found out that smoking weakened sexual desire and satisfaction of men who are even younger than 20-30.


The smokers reported that they had sex less than 6 times a month, while nonsmokers did it twice as many. This difference seemed important to the researches, because these couples were eager to have a baby.



Sexual satisfaction


The scientists found out that when sexual desire is joined with the bad habbit, a complete satisfaction is impossible. When people under study were asked to evaluate their satisfaction with sex according to ten-point scale, the average mark of nonsmokers was 8,7 while the couples where the husband smoked gave themselves only 5,2 points.



No doubt, sexual satisfaction of each man and the frequency of coupling could increase if the men gave up smoking. The specialists also ascertained that smoking also has a negative influence on muscles inside the penis, what prevents it from erection.


Smoking is especially harmful for women. They get older quickier. Their skin gets thin and loose. Often they have bad teeth and unpleasant smell from the mouth. Their voice becomes harsh. It is hardly possible for such a woman to arouse passion in a man, because men genetically direct their attention to the tenderness of a woman voice, her fresh complexion and shine of her eyes.


Smoking women who use hormonal contraceptives suffer from side effects more often.


Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have a low birth-weight baby that will have health problems after birth. Such women much more often suffer from depression and psychosis after childbirth.



Fertility





Fertility of a smoking woman is not likely to last long. Usually such women experience menopause earlier than those who do not smoke.


There is no use frightening you with all the negative sides of smoking. Perhaps you have already understood that smoking is worth giving up.Otherwise you risk your sexual health, your sex life and health of your future children. Is a cigarette more important for you?

MALE SEXuALITY AND SMOKING-1

Can Smoking Cigarettes or Marijuana

Lower Your Sperm Count or Sex Drive?





Smoking cigarettes or marijuana has been known to cause a number of health problems, which may possibly include lowering your sperm count, your semen production, and even your libido (sex drive). There are hundreds of toxins in cigarettes and marijuana, many of which can cause diseases and health problems that will last a lifetime. A low sperm count will increase your chance of infertility and can have profound effects on your overall sex life, including erectile dysfunction. Men that smoke too much marijuana may find their sex drive declines very rapidly. We intend to clarify some issues between smoking and male semen production in this article.







Most people know about the variety of toxins in cigarettes - including tar, cyanide, ammonia, nicotine and many other chemicals that are known to be bad for your health. Some of the things that smoking can cause includes cancer, emphysema, asthma, and many more diseases. The second hand smoke from burning cigarettes as well as second hand exhaled smoke is well known to cause health problems in people that don't even smoke, but are often exposed to it. These health issues are all fairly common knowledge, but did you know that cigarettes can be harmful to a mans sex drive, sperm production, fertility, and even his overall sexual performance.






Many studies have found an increased incidence of infertility, as well as decreased sperm production, in male smokers. Another relationship that some studies have found is an increased percentage of abnormal sperm, and sperm with poor motility (swimming irregularities, crooked tails, etc.). Such defects can effectively lower male fertility without even lowering sperm count, which also happens to be another unfortunate side effect of smoking. While most studies are conducted with cigarette smoke as opposed to marijuana, researchers believe that marijuana also causes many of the same problems that cigarettes do.






Besides reducing male fertility, smoking can ruin your libido and overall sexual virility. There is a link that has been found between smoking and impotence, for example. Many heavy smokers complain about weak erections and erectile difficulties. Another thing to think about is smoking before having sex might be turning your partner off if they are a non-smoker. During sex, most women don't want to smell cigarette smoke on your breath, so make sure you don't smell like you just lit up right before you came to bed. Smoking has also been said to make semen taste very bitter, which can lead to hurt feelings in the bedroom.






As you probably already know, smoking can be very detrimental to your overall health. Studies are finding that the complications cause by smoking also apply to sperm production, as well as your virility and libido. From the increased chance of infertility, to the higher rate of impotence, erectile dysfunction, and weak erections, cigarettes and marijuana can both be harmful to your sex life. Quitting smoking cigarettes or marijuana is not easy to do, but something that needs to be considered if you plan on having a healthy life and healthy family.



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CLINICAL & RESEARCH NEWS-1

Smoking Cessation Harder 

For Women Than Men

Men and women are not created equally—at least not when it comes to quitting smoking.

Women may suffer greater smoking-related health problems and have a harder time stubbing out that last cigarette than do men, according to a review of recent research.

Kenneth Perkins, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, reviewed more than 100 studies on smoking cessation and found that women appear to suffer greater risks of smoking-related diseases than men and tend to have less success than men when they try to quit smoking. The study appears in the May issue of CNS Drugs.

In regard to smoking-related health risks, one study showed that women had almost twice the risk of myocardial infarction than did men. Other studies pointed to greater risk of heart attack and stroke in women smokers who use oral contraceptives.

In addition, outcome studies on lung cancer led Perkins to conclude that, controlling for the amount of smoke exposure, women may have nearly double the risk of lung cancer as men. Recent research has identified a role for estrogen in increasing the lung cancer risk, according to Perkins.

Perkins also found some evidence that breast cancer risk may be increased among women who smoke, although he acknowledged that more studies are needed to replicate that finding.

Thus, smoking is especially dangerous for women, and the imperative to quit couldn’t be clearer. But it’s not that easy—especially for women, according to Perkins. “Treatment isn’t one size fits all,” he told Psychiatric News. “We can’t just say, ‘Here is a nicotine patch, now go and use it.’ Women have unique obstacles facing them.”

The research that Perkins reviewed suggests that women have more concerns about weight gain after they quit and greater susceptibility to falling back into old habits when faced with certain cues that trigger smoking, such as being around certain friends or experiencing specific moods.

Perkins also noted that men tended to benefit more from nicotine replacement therapy.

One study by Joel Killen, Ph.D., of Stanford University found that using nicotine gum resulted in abstinence from smoking twice as often in men as did using a placebo. For women, however, the nicotine gum didn’t help them to abstain from smoking.

Yet another study found similar results with the nicotine patch, where 17 percent of women but 24 percent of men were able to abstain from smoking with the treatment.

But women had a more positive response than men when it came to certain antidepressant medications. Perhaps due to the fact that depressed mood more often precipitates a smoking relapse in women, they are more likely to benefit from medications such as bupropion than are men, according to Perkins. Medications used to assist smoking cessation, such as clonidine and naltrexone, are also more effective for women, according to outcome studies.

Pregnant women, however, cannot take these medications since there is a significant risk to the developing fetus.

Finally, researchers are developing anti-smoking strategies that are tailored to women.

Perkins is currently involved in a counseling approach for women who are trying to quit smoking. Researchers at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic are using cognitive-behavioral therapy with women to reduce their concerns about weight gain.

The researchers are also using bupropion to see if it boosts the effects of therapy compared with placebo.

Smoking has resulted in the deaths of 3 million women since 1980, according to the Surgeon General’s recent report on women and smoking. It is also expected to cause 3 million more deaths per year among women by 2020.

“My message is not only for the smokers themselves but also for health care providers that there are many obstacles that crop up when people are trying to quit smoking,” said Perkins, who added that smokers should identify ways to cope with these obstacles before they emerge. “Often, people are faced with the situation that made them smoke, and they don’t have a coping mechanism in place,” he pointed out. ▪

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SECONDHAND SMOKE

The Surgeon General's report: Secondhand smoke kills people who don't smoke, and makes others sick

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also known as secondhand smoke, has also been shown to increase the risk of lung cancer. The 2006 Surgeon General's report on secondhand smoke stated that:

• Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes and workplaces, even though there has been a great deal of progress in tobacco control.

• Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults who do not smoke.

• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes breathing (respiratory) symptoms and slows lung growth in their children.

• Secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood circulation in a harmful way. Over a longer time it also causes heart disease and lung cancer.

• The scientific evidence shows there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

• The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to secondhand smoke indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space or building. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

SECONDHAND SMOKE-2

Secondhand smoke can affect your children's health 

About 1 out of every 10 children under the age of 6 in the United States breathes secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days per week. Studies show that older children whose parents smoke get sick more often. Their lungs grow less then children who do not live around smokers. They have bronchitis and pneumonia more often. They cough and wheeze more. Secondhand smoke can also trigger a child's asthma attack, make asthma symptoms worse, and even cause new cases of asthma in kids who had not shown symptoms before. More than 40% of children who go to the emergency room for asthma live with smokers. A severe asthma attack can be deadly.
Children who live with parents who smoke also get more ear infections. This often causes fluid to build up in their ears and they may need surgery to have ear tubes placed for drainage. Some of these problems may seem small, but they add up quickly: think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must take the child to the doctor. And this doesn't include the discomforts that the child must go through.

SMOKING AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH-2

Smoking can affect your baby's health

First of all, up to 5% of infant deaths would be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.
More than 10% of women smoke throughout their pregnancies -- some studies put the number at 16% or higher. Smoking is linked to an increased risk of early delivery and infant death. Research also suggests that infants of mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy are 3 to 4 times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies born to non-smoking mothers. The risk of SIDS is somewhat less for infants whose mothers stop smoking during pregnancy, even if they start smoking again after delivery.
Of the women who are able to stop smoking during pregnancy, only 1 out of 3 stay quit a year after the delivery. But infants of non-smoking mothers have the lowest risk of SIDS.
Smoking during pregnancy causes low birth weight in at least 1 in 5 infants. Smoking during pregnancy slows fetal growth. This often causes babies to have health problems as a result of being born underweight. Women who stop smoking before they get pregnant reduce their risk of having a low birth weight baby to that of women who never smoked. Even women who quit during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy have much healthier babies than those who keep smoking.
Many women are able to quit smoking during early pregnancy. But women who have mood disorders, such as depression, often find it much harder to quit. Researchers have learned that between one-third and one-half of women who smoke during pregnancy have a mood disorder. It can be harder for pregnant women to find treatment for depression, anxiety, or nicotine withdrawal with medicines because of concerns about the drugs hurting the fetus. Counseling or mental health therapy may help some of these women. If the woman is unable to quit smoking with therapy, she may want to talk with her doctor about other things she can try.
After a baby is born, some harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke can also be passed on through breast milk. This can affect a baby right away. For instance, infants who were breast-fed by mothers who smoked slept for a full half-hour less than when the mothers didn't smoke (this was measured over 3½ hours right after breast feeding).
If you managed to quit smoking while you were pregnant, don't pick up the habit again after the baby is born. When you find yourself tempted to start back, get help right away. And keep in mind that parents who smoke are more likely to have children who smoke. So if you stay quit your child stands a better chance of never starting.

SMOKING AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH-1

Smoking affects your reproductive health 

Tobacco use can damage a woman's reproductive health. Women who smoke are more likely to have trouble getting pregnant. Smokers tend to be younger at the start of menopause than non-smokers and may have more unpleasant symptoms while going through menopause.
Smoking can also cause problems during pregnancy that can hurt both mother and baby. Smokers have a higher risk of the placenta (the organ that protects and nourishes the growing fetus) growing too close to the opening of the uterus. Smokers are also more likely to have early membrane ruptures and placentas that separate from the uterus too early. Bleeding, early delivery (premature birth), and emergency Caesarean section (C-section) may result from these problems. Smokers are more likely to have miscarriages and stillbirths, too.

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WOMEN AND SMOKING

An epidemic of smoking-related cancer 

and disease in women

When calling attention to public health problems, we must not misuse the word "epidemic." But there is no better word to describe the 600-percent increase since 1950 in women's death rates for lung cancer, a disease primarily caused by cigarette smoking. Clearly, smoking-related disease among women is a full-blown epidemic. --
David Satcher, MD, PhD 

Smoking is the most preventable cause of early death in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking-related diseases causes the deaths of about 178,000 women in the U.S. each year. On average, these women died 14.5 years earlier because they smoked. 

The most recent CDC survey (from 2008) showed that more than 1 in 6 American women aged 18 years or older (18.3%) smoked cigarettes. The highest rates were seen among American-Indian and Alaska-Native women (22.4%), followed by white (20.6%), African-American (17.8%), Hispanic (10.7%), and Asian women (4.7%). The less education a woman has, the more likely it is she will smoke. For instance, women with less than a high school education are more than twice as likely to smoke as college graduates. 

Overall, women are less likely to smoke than men. But it has been found that smoking is more popular among younger than older women. This is an alarming trend that will affect the future health of these young women. About 21% of women ages 25 to 44 smoke; only about 8% of women 65 and over do. If these younger women continue to smoke as they get older, they will have more smoking-related illness and disability. Smoking rates are slightly lower among women aged 18 to 24, about 19%.



Women who smoke nearly always begin as teenagers -- usually before high school graduation. And the younger a girl is when she starts, the more heavily she is likely to use tobacco as an adult. Teenage girls are just as likely to smoke as boys. The most recent CDC surveys showed that 19% of female high school students and 6% of middle school girls had smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days. More than 9% of 12th grade girls reported that they had smoked at least one cigar in the past month. Nearly 29% of the senior girls had used some form of tobacco in the past month.

MISSION DE-ADDICTION-1

The race begins to stop smoking with you

Summons to stop smoking is one of the most difficult tasks that many adults will be overcome. Cigarettes are easily accessible and socially acceptable, and may be difficult to follow. For other forms of chemical dependency addicts must completely from the culture that supports their habit to delete. If drug of choice, you can buy in supermarkets, but a much bigger challenge. While there are stories of people who were able to walk, is the most common history of struggle and repeated failure.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do if you decide you want to stop smoking is to help a friend or family member to win, drawing you to justice. Having someone there to encourage the street is more than any other product, stop smoking, you can buy. It is important to remember that smoking addiction as emotional, of course. Although various aspects of the medical community trying to argue both sides, it seems safe to conclude that two factors come into play, so be sure you have a great support to congratulate you, the consumer products selected to help you stop smoking.

Of course, there is a range of consumer products in order to help you stop smoking. Everything from chewing gum, patches right hand and hypnosis, to be able to reduce your cravings for cigarettes after. Some smokers have found these products can be useful to varying degrees, but it is important to remember that they are only tools. To complete the final decision must come from within or from you.

For many smokers to stop smoking, smoking might be a problem for others in their lives than by concern for themselves. The new parents decide that they want their children growing up exposed to tobacco smoke and grandparents decide that they want their grandchildren to let them know until adulthood. Family ties are important incentives and have the key to success for many adults who have stopped smoking.

If you choose, preferably with the help of your doctor, one of the commercial products to help you stop smoking, you should do a lot of research beforehand to know what to expect. Familiarize yourself with the benefits, as some will be reduced gradually over time, while others remain stable. It should also be a time for the effects that may occur, be ready.

In the struggle to stop smoking, the ultimate responsibility to you eventually. Although you can use the best products available and surround you with a strong support network, no help, if not stop the commitment to start smoking. Take the first step. Decided that it would be a slave to addiction and do what is needed to improve the quality of your life, and therefore the quality of life for your family.

SMOKING AND ACNE-1

Relation between Smoking and Acne

Monday, November 30, 2009

Acne is a common skin disease that causes pimples. Buttons form when hair follicles become clogged under the skin. Most buttons are formed on the face, neck, back, chest and shoulders. Acne occurs most often in the early years teenybopper, but affects the lives of some adults. Acne falls under the category of rash.
The causes of acne are hormones, diet, evolutionary biology, vitamin A deficiency, stress, and more. The real explanation may be a complex mixture of many of these factors. Oily or heavy make-up is another cause of acne. Smoking can cause acne. Smoking is a major cause of death and disease in the United Kingdom.
Each year around 114,000 smokers die from diseases related to smoking such as heart disease and lung cancer.

Sometimes, smoking is the nicotine is reported to have justified anxiety reducing effects. IFN non-inflammatory acne is more common in smokers.
Smoking can cause a range of other health problems, including those that have a negative effect on the skin. The skin can also be gray, the wrinkles and yellowing of skin and nails. In adult acne, non-smokers were more likely to suffer from inflammatory acne. Smoking, however, were much more likely to experience outbreaks of non-inflammatory. 42% of smokers suffered from acne, compared with 10% of non-smokers. But smokers do not develop inflammatory acne afflicting much higher rate than adult acne. About 70 percent of smokers say they fled, but most believe that it is capable.

If you really want to control acne first step you need to do is to quit. Wash your face regularly, but avoid too much laundry. Some changes in your diet and include fruits and vegetables in your diet as well. Yoga and meditation will help you a lot. Get plenty of fresh air and sunshine for vitamin D, ingredients for healthy skin and acne free. Drink plenty of water because it helps flush toxins from the skin. Acne has nothing to do with dirt. Well, not too clean or wash your face too much or the rest of your body. Diet plays the same role played by herbs to eliminate acne. It should be borne by the juicer and juice in the diet. Corticosteroid injections to speed the healing of the injury, only a few days.

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INFERTILITY and SMOKING      

Is a baby part of your future plans? Many women today delay childbirth until they are in their thirties or even forties, which can cause fertility problems even for nonsmoking women. But women who smoke and delay childbirth are putting themselves at a substantially greater risk of future infertility than nonsmokers.

The fact is women smokers have around 72 percent of the fertility of nonsmokers. When all other factors are equal, it is 3.4 times more likely that smokers will require over one year to conceive.

Increasingly, studies are showing that decreased ovulatory response, as well as the fertilization and implantation of the zygote may be impaired in women who smoke. Thought is also given that chemicals in tobacco may alter the cervical fluid, making it toxic to sperm causing pregnancy to be difficult to achieve.

We can't leave the men out on this one, though. Men smokers are 50 percent more likely to become impotent. Some of the toxic chemicals found in cigarettes may result in gene mutations that can cause miscarriage, birth defects, cancer, and other health problems in their children.

WOMEN AND SMOKING-2

Pregnancy and Smoking

Chemicals in tobacco are passed from pregnant mothers through the blood stream to the fetus. These toxic chemicals present serious risks to the unborn child, as well as the mother. According to "Our Bodies, Ourselves for the New Century," by the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, "Smoking during pregnancy is associated with preterm delivery, low birthweight, premature rupture of membranes, placenta previa, miscarriage, and neonatal death. New borns whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have the same nicotine levels in their bloodstream's as adults who smoke, and they go through withdrawal during their first days of life."

Children born to mothers who smoke experience more colds, ear aches, respiratory problems, and illnesses requiring visits to the pediatrician than children born to nonsmokers.

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Oral Contraceptives and Smoking

Do you use oral contraceptives or another hormonal method of birth control? Women smokers who use oral contraceptives risk serious consequences including increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. This risk increases with age and women over 35 who smoke should not use oral contraceptives.

Historically, a mild elevation in blood pressure often occurred in pill users. However, blood pressure often returned to normal "prepill" levels once oral contraceptives were discontinued. New studies indicate that high blood pressure is not a common problem for todays Pill users, nonetheless all women using oral contraceptives should have their blood pressure checked every six to twelve months.

WOMEN AND SMOKING-4

Cigarettes May Be More Damaging to Women

Women may be especially susceptible to the toxic effects of cigarette smoking, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

 

 

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/05/cigarettes_may_be_more_damaging_women.php#ixzz0lTEOoh2d

They said women who smoke develop lung damage earlier in life than men, and it takes less cigarette exposure to cause damage in women compared with men.

"Overall our analysis indicated that women may be more vulnerable to the effects of smoking," said Dr. Inga-Cecilie Soerheim of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the University of Bergen in Norway.

Soerheim, who presented her findings at the American Thoracic Society meeting in San Diego, California, said researchers had suspected this but until now had lacked proof.

Her team analyzed 954 people in Norway with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes lung problems from chronic bronchitis to emphysema.

COPD affects an estimated 210 million people worldwide. The most common symptoms include shortness of breath, coughing and a limited ability to exercise.

In the study, about 60 percent were men and 40 percent were women. All were current or former smokers.

Overall, both groups had similar lung impairments. But when they looked at younger people -- those under age 60 -- or those who had been lighter smokers, they found women had more severe disease and worse lung function than men.

Read more: http://www.momlogic.com/2009/05/cigarettes_may_be_more_damaging_women.php#ixzz0lTE8SzNY

WOMEN AND SMOKING-1

Smoking:

The Women's Health Perspective

WARNING!

If You Are a Woman, Don't Smoke Cigarettes!

We all have heard the warnings-- cigarettes can cause cancer and increase our risk of heart disease. But the sad fact is that approximately 23 million women in the US (23 percent of the female population) still smoke cigarettes. Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in this country, yet more than 140,000 women die each year from smoking related causes. The highest rate of smoking (27 percent) occurs among women between twenty-five and forty-four.

Despite all the warnings today's teens have heard about the dangers of smoking, the reality is that almost all of the new smokers today are teenagers; over 1.5 million teenage girls smoke cigarettes.

Women smokers suffer all the consequences of smoking that men do such as increased of risk various cancers (lung, mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, kidney, and bladder) and respiratory diseases, but as women we need explicit cognizance about the numerous smoking-related health risks which are uniquely ours. This article explores these risks and, hopefully, provides women smokers the further perception and inducement, perhaps, needed to stop smoking.

KIDS AND SMOKING-Video

KIDS AND SMOKING-2

If Your Child Smokes

If you smell smoke on your child's clothing, try not to overreact. Ask about it first — maybe he or she has been hanging around with friends who smoke or just tried one cigarette. Many kids do try a cigarette at one time or another but don't go on to become regular smokers.

Additional signs of tobacco use include:

• coughing
• throat irritation
• hoarseness
• bad breath
• decreased athletic performance
• greater susceptibility to colds
• stained teeth and clothing (also signs of chewing tobacco use)
• shortness of breath

Sometimes even the best foundation isn't enough to stop kids from experimenting with tobacco. It may be tempting to get angry, but it's more productive to focus on communicating with your child.

Here are some tips that may help:

• Resist lecturing or turning your advice into a sermon.
• Uncover what appeals to your child about smoking and talk about it honestly.
• Many times, kids aren't able to appreciate how their current behaviors can affect their future health. So talk about the immediate downsides to smoking: less money to spend on other pursuits, shortness of breath, bad breath, yellow teeth, and smelly clothes.
• Stick to the smoking rules you've set up. And don't let a child smoke at home to keep the peace.
• If you hear, "I can quit any time I want," ask your child to show you by quitting cold turkey for a week.
• Try not to nag. Ultimately, quitting is your child's decision.
• Help your child develop a quitting plan and offer information and resources, and reinforce the decision to quit with praise.
• Stress the natural rewards that come with quitting: freedom from addiction, improved fitness, better athletic performance, and improved appearance.
• Encourage a meeting with your doctor, who can be supportive and may have treatment plans.

If You Smoke

Kids are quick to observe any contradiction between what their parents say and what they do. Despite what you might think, most kids say that the adult whom they most want to be like when they grow up is a parent.

If you're a smoker:

• First, admit to that you made a mistake by starting to smoke and that if you had it to do over again, you'd never start.
• Second, quit. It's not simple and it may take a few attempts and the extra help of a program or support group. But your kids will be encouraged as they see you overcome your addiction to tobacco.