Published at 05 March, 2024 14:11.
People who breathe in second-hand smoke can be exposed to the same dangerous chemicals as the smoker, increasing their risk of developing smoking related diseases. Even smoking in one room of your home exposes your family to harmful chemicals which spread from room to room and can linger for up to 5 hours, being particularly harmful to your children and people with asthma and long-term breathing problems and health conditions. Children breathe faster than adults and take in more of the harmful chemicals from second-hand smoke exposure.
If you are a smoking parent or grandparent your children and grandchildren are 4 times more likely to take up smoking themselves. Teenagers are particularly at risk of taking up the smoking habit if their parents smoke. Children copy parental behaviour and often by adulthood they are smokers themselves. By stopping smoking parents, care givers and friends can improve their own health and break the pattern to protect future generations too!
More than 4 in 5 smokers start smoking before the age of 20 and three quarters say they would not have started if they had the choice again. Help prevent future generations from starting smoking by stopping yourself, become a role model and an influencer to your children and grand children by stopping smoking and help prevent them from starting to smoke themselves.
As a parent you want the best for your children but why not start with yourself? Stop smoking, improve your health and with the cost of living at an all-time high, your wealth will improve too! You will have more money in your family budget and more time and energy to spend with your children that you would normally spend on smoking.
There are no safe levels of smoking. Smoking can lead to avoidable illness and remains the biggest cause of preventable death. Be an influencer this No Smoking Day and seek help to stop smoking for your own health benefits and to help break the pattern to prevent future generations taking up the smoking habit!
