Youth Tobacco Prevention

Surveys and studies show that about 23 percent of all high school students are current smokers. Approximately 80 percent of adult smokers began smoking before their 18th birthday and some 4,000 kids will try smoking for the first time today. Of these, 1,140 will become daily cigarette smokers.

The following links include information to share with kids about the dangers of smoking as well as information about tobacco use rates among children in the United States and around the world:

• American Heart Association - Active and Passive Tobacco Exposure: A Serious Pediatric Problem
• American Lung Association - Smoking and Teens
• Centers for Disease Control - Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS)
• Centers for Disease Control - Youth Tobacco Surveillance - United States, 2000
• Centers for Disease Control - Youth Tobacco Use and Exposure is a Global Problem
• Environmental Protection Agency - Fact Sheet: Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking
• National Institutes of Health - MedlinePlus: Smoking and Youth
• World Health Organization - Youth

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention References:

• Cigarette Use among High School Students - United States, 1991-2005
• Tobacco Use, Access, and Exposure to Tobacco in Media Among Middle and High School Students - United States, 2004
• Youth and Tobacco Use: Current Estimates