UK: Thousands of Sussex Children Take up Smoking Every Year

Source from:  The Argus Brighton Hove and Sussex (uk)  04/28/2013

More than 5,000 children have taken up smoking in Sussex in the past year.

Health experts estimate more than 1,000 people under the age of 16 in Brighton and Hove took up the habit in the last year, along with more than 2,400 in West Sussex and 1,700 in East Sussex.

Figures compiled by charity Ash show the number of new smokers has stayed static compared to 2010, marking the end of a steady decline in people taking up smoking since the mid-1990s.

Cancer Research UK found that, despite it being illegal to sell any tobacco to under 18s in the UK, 11% of children in England reported being regular smokers by the age of 15.

But actual smoking rates may be higher, with a fifth of 15-year-olds having elements in their saliva that suggest they are smokers.

On average, regular child smokers will have 36 cigarettes a week.

About 40% of regular smokers started before they were 16.

Cancer Research UK said the adolescent years were "extremely important" in establishing an individual's lifetime smoking behaviour.

A spokesman said: "Having parents, siblings and peers who smoke is a factor that encourages children to smoke.

"Other factors linked to an increased likelihood of smoking in childhood include school truancy and exclusion.

"There is evidence that a younger age of smoking initiation carries additional risks of lung damage, and it has been shown that people taking up smoking before the age of 15 have double the risk of lung cancer of those starting at the age of 20 or later, after taking into account the amount smoked."

More than a year after the Government launched a public consultation on tobacco packaging, Ash is calling on the Government to introduce legislation requiring standard tobacco packaging so that children will no longer be tempted by "glitzy, branded packaging" to take up the habit.

Simon Gillespie, the chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Branded cigarette packs are a major factor in encouraging young people to start smoking, which increases their chances of developing coronary heart disease.

"We need legislation to standardise tobacco packaging. This will make cigarettes less appealing and go a long way to reducing these shocking numbers." Enditem