Teen Smokers Get Addicted Quickly

The average age that kids will light up that first cigarette is about 12 years old. It starts with experimentation but within 6 to 9 months a pattern has already developed where this child is smoking on a semi-regular basis--the first hint of addiction. Less than 24 months after that first cigarette, the teen smoker is smoking on a daily basis and is addicted. A Canadian study recently showed that most of these teen smokers do want to quit but find it too hard. The study was sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society and most teen smokers will try to quit the first time within a couple of months of the first cigarette. If they relapse though, they begin to see that quitting is harder than they had thought and if they are still smoking within two years, the cravings and withdrawal symptoms have increased that many doubt their ability to stop.
This study shows the need to take aggressive measures early on if they think their child is experimenting wtih smoking. the child is more likely to smoke if they have an older sibling who smokes or one or both parents smoke. It is never too early to talk to your child about the dangers of nicotine addiction.