your teenage children and smoking
BY NOW, most parents in this country have heard of the report to the Surgeon General on SMOKING AND HEALTH. They know about the alarming facts it contains. And for some time, their worries about their children who are already smoking, or their fears that they may take it up, have been increasing.
SMOKING AND HEALTH leaves no doubt that the person—the man, woman, boy, girl—who smokes is already on a road to possible disability and an earlier death.
SMOKING AND HEALTH is written in medical terms. In day-to-day language, it says:
If your child smokes cigarettes, chances are much greater that he will die of lung cancer, or chronic bronchitis, or emphysema (serious lung disease), or coronary heart disease.
The earlier your boy or girl starts cigarette smoking, the greater the chances are that he will become a heavy smoker and develop the habit of inhaling, which further increases the risk of early disability and a shortened life. The longer your child puts off starting smoking or the sooner he can break the habit, the greater his chances are of avoiding that fate.
In connection with the report, the Surgeon General says: "Millions of today's children will needlessly become sick, disabled, or die before their time."
1
