Consequences of Smoking in Youngsters

This essay evaluates the consequences of smoking in youngsters and investigates tobacco control policies in the UK. Learn about the impact of smoking on health and the challenges in prevention.

Smoking

Good health refers to a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being of an
individual, which is gained by eating a proper balanced diet. Regular exercise, avoidance of
tobacco and smoking, helps a person in building strong immune system and prevention from
infectious diseases (Laird and et. al., 2019). But today, people especially youngsters are attracted
more towards addictions of alcohol, tobacco, smoking and more. This would highly impact on
health and quality of life, adversely. An essay is being made to evaluate consequences of
smoking in youngsters. This study mainly aims to investigate systematically the existing tobacco
control policies in UK, with potential impacts, including national and international challenges for
prevention of smoking by targeting the youth.
To gain long-term and short-term benefits, adopting healthy lifestyle becomes an essential
part of life for every person (St Claire and et. al., 2020). Taking balanced diet, regular exercise
with maintenance of weight helps an individual in adding more years to life, with minimising the
risk of various diseases like obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease etc. While
short-term benefits include feeling of freshness all day, with more energy to do routine work.
The key hereby, involves minimising risk of early age disease, just by making small changes to
daily lives. Eating healthier food, with regular exercise, eating less junk foods and more, are
some small steps towards adoption of healthy lifestyle (Ruiz, Taylor and Cavin, 2020). But it has
seen that tobacco use and smoking in youths today, is a major public health challenge at global
level, where approaches to its consequences have not been sufficiently addressed. Tobacco
consumption and smoking causes a number of deaths and destroying the healthy lifestyle of
youngsters. It has killed millions of people till 20th century, where if steps will not be taken then
it may lead to increase this data to billions. Children are continuously exposed to tobacco and
smoking via internet and social media, where, teenagers, younger ones from poorer backgrounds
are attracted more towards smoking and tobacco usages (Al-Hamdani, Hopkins and Park, 2020).
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Smoking tobacco creates a long-term impact on people’s health especially on young
generations, such as reduction in brain activity, increased rate of heartbeat and blood pressure,
gum infection, dizziness, loss of appetite, chronic lung diseases & asthma, reduction in fertility,
aortic rupture etc. (Al-Hamdani, Hopkins and Park, 2020). If people at early age become
addicted towards smoking, then it contributes to osteoporosis, shortness of breath, pharyngeal
and laryngeal cancers and other long term consequences. Therefore, intake of smoking whether
at small or extent level, put severe impact on health of people. As smoking contributes highly to
socioeconomic inequalities in health significantly, therefore, it becomes essential for government
and healthcare associations to take actions against same. The harmful effects of cigarette
smoking have led to take global action for reducing its prevalence, including running educational
programme on ‘Anti-smoking’, introducing of a number of cigarette smoking and tobacco
control policies through governments at worldwide level (Laird and et. al., 2019). In 2013, UK
(Scottish Government) has launched the national tobacco control strategy with purpose to make
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this nation as tobacco smoke-free till 2034. The strategy has outlined more than 46 proposed
actions, which are broadly focused on smoking cessation services including initiatives and
prevention of its uptake, to reduce its exposure to passive smokers (St Claire and et. al., 2020).
The key successes of this programme includes strong political leadership, campaigns of mass
media, legislation for addressing the marketing of cigarettes and minimise second-hand smoke
exposure. However, a number of challenges are also raised in terms of implementation of policy
actions, evaluation and monitoring of control actions, determining and reducing health
inequalities within smoking prevalence and more. Since youngsters are mostly exposed towards
increasing consumption of smoking, therefore, running education campaigns within schools, help
in bringing awareness among children about consequences and long-term impact of smoking on
their health (Ruiz, Taylor and Cavin, 2020).
Smoking is however, considered as most preventable as well as controllable health risk,
where, all health care professionals must give their utmost attention for finding solution to its
problem. Tobacco since, seems to be highly profitable product, due to its large-scale production
as well as great number of consumers. Therefore, cases of growing consumers particularly
youngsters are increasing day-by-day (Laird and et. al., 2019). In developed and developing
countries, smoking control policies, with differences treatment resources for cessation of
smoking have advanced in recent years, with satisfactory results. In this regard, pulmonologists
play a greater role in supporting people to quit smoking, by getting more involvement with them
in treating and the strengthening anti-smoking laws. However, it may pose a number of
challenges for government and health care associations, because still millions of people at global
level are active smokers, who not only affect quality of own life but also of others too (St Claire
and et. al., 2020). Therefore, it is difficult for mobilising public support to run programs for quit
smoking. This challenge for smoking and tobacco products control community seems to be
relentless, regarding with human cost where millions of people (both active and passive smokers)
are at risk of induced diseases. Similarly, increasing and Maintaining clinician interest within
smoking cessation is another main challenge, because it seems to be so difficult to quit smoking
and clinicians due to larger number of patients have lesser time, to support smokers for
controlling and quitting the same (Ruiz, Taylor and Cavin, 2020). Other than this, since a
consequence of smoking is increasingly concentrated in that populations having little political
influence, therefore, federal and state policymakers used to tempt to trim the programs for
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tobacco control programs, with purpose to allocate fund for other priorities like promoting health
care or education. In this regard, fighting to get funds and manage the same for running smoking
cessation programs, required the strong advocacy voices (Al-Hamdani, Hopkins and Park, 2020).
On contrast with such conditions like breast cancer, there is not so strong citizen groups that give
support in pushing for tobacco control, therefore, it falls the efforts of policy makers or
healthcare associations to public health community.
Therefore, to reduce and control the increasing rate of smokers, it is essential for
government, policy makers and healthcare associations to work collaboratively and take
important steps for the same (Ruiz, Taylor and Cavin, 2020). Key suggestions include for future
policy actions are addressing the availability and price of tobacco products, maintenance of
strong political leadership, building on success of mass media campaign on ‘Take it Right
Outside’ for tackling other aspects of controlling tobacco, testing various methods to address
inequalities within prevalence of cigarette smoking etc. If children at early age will teach about
how smoking is injuries to health, including its long-term impact, then it will help in bringing
awareness among youngsters about consequences of intake of tobacco products or smoking on
quality of life. By including this topic as a particular subject in primary and secondary education,
will help in reducing the growing rate of smokers (St Claire and et. al., 2020). Along with this, it
also helps in preventing children from being an active or passive smokers. Similarly, leaders of
the governmental institutions are required to take regular information with updated objective data
regarding with tobacco and smoking. Through this step, they can explore information about
tobacco leaf exports which are worth billions in numbered and sectors that associated with this
trade, like small farmers, can be prepared for necessary movements like migration to other crops.
By incorporating the Anti-Smoking Law, if prices of tobacco products are increased at higher
rates, then it will help in getting 100% smoke-free environments and effective result (Laird and
et. al., 2019). Furthermore, more funds are needed to be allocated for running programs to bring
awareness among people, especially in less-developed countries because their population are at
higher risk of smoking. Along with this, as Pulmonologists can help more in motivating smokers
for quitting smoking through guiding therapy. Therefore, policy makers are required to
encourage pulmonologists for giving active more in helping and supporting regional societies to
implement interventions in practices within in hospitals, for prevention and treatment of smoking
(Al-Hamdani, Hopkins and Park, 2020). In addition to this, pulmonologists including all health
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care professionals are required to give maximum attention of them towards supporting youths
and other people who haven’t yet started smoking, to prevent from the same. By giving a brief
intervention, for significant contribution refers to be cost-effective one towards smoking
cessation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Hamdani, M., Hopkins, D. B. and Park, T., 2020. Vaping among youth and young adults: A
“red alert” state. Journal of public health policy. 41(1). pp.63-69.
Laird, Y. and et. al., 2019. Tobacco control policy in Scotland: A qualitative study of expert
views on successes, challenges and future actions. International journal of environmental
research and public health. 16(15). p.2659.
Ruiz, Y., Taylor, Z. E. and Cavin, R., 2020. Parent-Adolescent Communication as a Protective
Factor Against Adolescent Alcohol and Tobacco Use: Reported Narratives From Youth
From Latinx Farmworker Families. Journal of Adolescent Research,
p.0743558420906084.
St Claire, S. and et. al., 2020. Lung health, tobacco, and related products: gaps, challenges, new
threats, and suggested research.
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