More work needs to be done so that young Americans are tobacco use, including the establishment of smoking bans and higher taxes on tobacco products, the U.S. office of a doctor said in a report published Thursday. Almost one in five high school age teens smoke, compared to previous decades, but the pace of decline has slowed, the report said.
He said it was especially important to stop young people from tobacco use, because those who started smoking during adolescence may increase your chances of long-term relationship. They also may experience a rapid decrease in lung function, impaired lung growth, early heart disease and other health problems like asthma. More than 80 percent of smokers begin at age 18, and 99 percent of adult smokers at the beginning of the U.S. for 26 years, according to the 920-page report, which is the first comprehensive look at youth tobacco from the post of chief physician for nearly two decades.
“In order to put an end to this epidemic, we must focus on where we can prevent it and where we can see the same effect, and it is with young people,” Doctor Regina Benjamin said in an interview with Associated Press. “We want our next generation of tobacco-free, and I think we can.”
Youth report details tobacco, health consequences, and marketing of tobacco and prevention activities in the U.S. officials hope that the information will enhance tobacco control efforts and the spark of social activism in reducing death and disease caused by tobacco use. The report also recommended that anti-smoking campaigns and increasing restrictions on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco, and other ways to prevent teenagers and young adults from using tobacco products.
Benjamin did not point the finger at why young people use tobacco in the United States continues Instead, she wants to see the country as a whole it is best to resolve the issue, she said. “I do not want to focus on wine, I want to focus on prevention,” she said. “I want to make sure we do everything we can to prevent children from ever starting to smoke or use tobacco products.”
Office of the GP in the past, published a report on youth tobacco use in 1994, the first extensive report on the federal health authorities. The new report is issued by 31 U.S. surgeons general to warn the public about the risks of tobacco. The first report in 1964 declared tobacco to be fatal. From 1994 on, smoking among school children has decreased from 27.5 percent to 19.5 percent, or about 3 million students, but the pace of decline has slowed in recent years. About 5.2 percent, or 600,000 students in secondary schools and are smokers.
According to the report, every day in the U.S., more than 3,800 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette and 1,000 of them have become daily smokers. They replace the 1,200 people who die every day from smoking in the United States. “Too many of our children addicted to too many people can not quit smoking, and too many are dying too young,” Assistant Secretary of Health Howard Koh said at a press conference on Thursday.
The report also examines advertising and promotional activities of tobacco companies, which have been shown to “cause the emergence and continuation of smoking among adolescents and young adults.”
Tobacco companies spend more money on marketing efforts to reduce prices, which health officials said the report, could affect access to price sensitive youth and make cigarettes more affordable. “Too many children are still seeing smoking images and messages every day, to normalize this relationship,” said Koch. “Children are seen smoking in the movies they watch, they play video games, websites they visit, and in the communities where they live.”
Almost $ 10 billion was spent in 2008 on cigarette marketing major tobacco companies in the country, 48 percent more than what was spent in 1998, when some companies have agreed with state prosecutors to limit or stop some of their marketing efforts. This 25-year, $ 206 billion settlement paid by the state of smoking-related health care costs and support tobacco prevention programs.
“We have come a long way since the days of smoking on airplanes and in college classes, but we have a long way,” Minister of Health and Human Resources Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement accompanying the latest report. “The prosperity and health of our nation depends on it.”
In a statement on Thursday, Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group, parent company of the country’s largest cigarette manufacturer, Philip Morris USA, which makes the top-selling brand Marlboro, said he agrees that children should not use tobacco and that it sells its products to adult smokers by age and check direct connection to the retail stores.