Is smoking or not smoking a choice for everyone? While some cities are banning smoking in public places and some conscious efforts around the US are setting standards to stop smoking in the work place -- and restaurants are following a pattern to either end smoking in their establishments or to designate an area just for smokers -- it is still up to a lot of individuals to make choices where they will go in public to avoid cigarette smoke.
Twenty percent of lung cancers in women are from non-smokers who were exposed to second hand smoke. This statistic seems to be on the rise. But it is not just lung cancers that are affected by second hand smoke. Other types of cancers have been related to smoking or second hand smoke.
As adults we all have to make choices daily whether to go hang out with friends in a bar or night club that allows smoking, or to visit with a friend or family member in their house and they are a smoker. But what about the children? What choices do they have to stay away from parents, guardians, or baby sitters or other family members that are smokers? Children face a higher risk than adults of the negative effects of second hand smoke. Not only is a child's body still developing physically, but their breathing rate is faster than that of adults. Children breathing second hand smoke have many more illnesses like ear infections, bronchitis, allergies, and stunted growth.
So if you are trying to find some way to help you quit smoking, think about the health of your children or the children you are around. If you need another reason, remember that kids of a parent that smokes are more likely to start smoking themselves when they get older. Do you want your kids to have an increased risk of lung cancer or heart attacks because they learned to smoke from you?
If you just can't quit, then make a conscious effort to smoke outside of the home and do not smoke in the car. Also consider using smokeless ashtrays. Cut down on the amount of exposure to second hand cigarette smoke for your child who does not have the choice.
1. I have stopped to smoke about one year ago and I do not regret. It was easier than I represented it to myself.
Posted at 12:03PM on May 29th 2006 by Egor