Talk to Your Kids about Living Tobacco Free This Mother’s Day

May 11, 2012

Celebrate this Mother’s Day by spending quality time with your kids and talking to them about the very real dangers of tobacco use and the benefits of living tobacco free. You are a powerful influence on your child’s behavior and helping protect them from a lifetime of addiction is well worth the effort.

Youth and Tobacco Use

Each day thousands of U.S. kids smoke their first cigarette. For many youth, that first cigarette leads to a lifetime of nicotine addiction, disability, and disease. Consider these statistics:

• More than 80 percent of established adult smokers begin before 18 years of age.
• Each day in the United States, more than 3,800 youth smoke their first cigarette.
• More than 1,000 youth become daily smokers every day.

If You Use Tobacco, Make a Difference by Quitting Today

Quitting can make a difference not only for your health but for the health of your children. If you are tobacco free, your children are less likely to use tobacco. Also, secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems for children as they are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers. You can quit. For free, evidence-based information visit www.smokefree.gov or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

How Else Can You Help Prevent Your Kids From Using Tobacco?

You can pledge your support for responsible tobacco retailing and promise to help keep tobacco out of the hands of youth. FDA is working to ensure retailers are fully aware of regulations that help limit kids access to tobacco products and protect them from the dangers of tobacco use. Everyone—from moms to retailers to community leaders—can help protect kids from tobacco.

Additional Resources

• Read Commissioner Hamburg’s blog post on talking with your kids about tobacco for Mother’s Day
• Protecting Kids from Tobacco

<-- View all past FDA Tobacco feature articles here