Global Health Asia-Pacific July 2020 July 2020 | Page 40

Medical News The longer kids stay away from cigarettes, the less likely they will smoke Landmark study links the age of a child’s first cigarette with chances of getting hooked The younger people are when they have their first cigarette, the more likely they are to become adult smokers, according to a new study that has called for the minimum age for buying tobacco to be raised internationally to 21. The research, published in April in the Journal of the American Heart Association, looked at the smoking habits of more than 6,600 young people in �inland, Australia, and the �nited �tates. It found that adolescents who smoked the most, along with children who started smoking at younger ages, were more likely to be daily smokers in their 20s and less likely to quit smoking by their 40s. Even children who only tried a few cigarettes were more likely to end up as a daily adult smoker. Eight percent of those who first tried smoking at 18-19 years went on to be regular smokers in their twenties. This figure rose to 33 percent among those who first tried smoking between 15 and 17, while 48 percent of those whose first cigarettes were at 13 or 14 went on to become smokers. Half of those in the 6-12 age group smoked in their twenties. Only 2.6 percent of participants who took up smoking for the first time after their twenties smoked in their forties. The frequency of smoking in childhood and adolescence was found to be similar across all three countries. “As children mature through adolescence, they may have developed a better ability to resist impulses and to reject social pressures. These results strongly support Tobacco 21, a movement to restrict all sales of tobacco products to people under age 21,� wrote lead author Dr David �acobs, �rofessor of �ublic Health at the �niversity of Minnesota, in an accompanying note. Although the study was conducted in developed nations, the researchers believe that the results likely apply more broadly. Assessing the findings of the study for Global Health Asia-�acific, Dr Colin Mendelsohn, an associate professor at �ew �outh Wales �niversity’s �chool of �ublic Health and Community Medicine, said its clear message was that kids should not start smoking at any age. �We know that even one cigarette is a predictor for what will happen later on. Still, kids will smoke and many will go on to smoke,” he said. “The minimum age of 21 is a really important strategy. A number of good studies have shown it does reduce smoking rates. I agree with the authors that it should be a priority.” Though the study revealed important information about childhood tobacco use, it omitted the role of vaping in keeping children away from cigarettes. �I think it’s an oversight. �moking rates are falling faster than ever among young people in the �nited States and Britain. The research suggests vaping may be diverting people away from smoking, so we think vaping is a gateway out of smoking,� said Dr Mendelsohn. �As more kids start vaping, far fewer are still smoking, and that has accelerated in the last few years. There’s always this talk about if kids start vaping they’re going to become smokers. There’s no evidence of that. What’s happening is that regular vaping is almost entirely confined to kids who already smoke.” 38 JULY 2020 GlobalHealthAndTravel.com