Youth and Tobacco: Coaches and Parents Can Make a Difference!
Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States causing heart and lung diseases, cancers, and strokes. If you can help your young athlete from resisting that first puff of a cigarette or dip of spit tobacco, you will dramatically improve the likelihood that he/she will live a longer, healthier life. Because nearly 90% of adult smokers began using tobacco products before they turned 19 years of age, talking to children about the dangers of smoking is especially urgent and important.
Youth may not believe that tobacco is addictive or harmful
Most youth believe that they can quit using tobacco products whenever they would like to. Unfortunately, they can become addicted at relatively low doses of nicotine. Therefore, young people’s belief that they are invulnerable to the negative effects of tobacco is not only unfounded, but dangerous because once they are addicted to using tobacco it is very difficult to quit.
Youth that use tobacco may:
- Have asthma attacks more often, cough, and develop respiratory problems leading to more sick days and poor athletic performance.
- Be more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as using alcohol or drugs.
- Become very addicted to tobacco and find it difficult to quit.
- Have a greater risk of becoming long-term smokers.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, young athletes should avoid using tobacco because:
- Nicotine narrows blood vessels and puts added strain on the heart.
- Smoking can damage lungs and reduce oxygen available for muscles during sports.
- Smokers suffer shortness of breath almost three times more often than non-smokers.
- Smoking slows lung growth, decreases lung function, and reduces the oxygen available for muscles used in sports.
- Therefore, smokers often run slower and/or not as far, affecting overall athletic performance.
Youngsters who have a best friend or parent who smokes are 
more likely to start smoking because they have easier access to cigarettes. But cigarettes are not the only risk for youth. Some youth use smokeless tobacco, cigars, or imported candy-flavored small cigarettes from other countries in the mistaken belief that they are less addictive or harmful. These smaller flavored cigarettes that appeal to youth may even deliver higher concentrations of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar compared to conventional cigarettes.
Adults can make a difference in a young athlete’s life
Talk to youth about the effects of tobacco early in a child’s life and often. Coaches and parents can help prevent young people from using tobacco products by:
- Recognizing that you influence young people by your own actions. Avoid using tobacco in the presence of the youngsters.
- Reminding them of the importance of being tobacco-free.
- Talking to them about the negative effects of tobacco use. When talking to young athletes, remember that they relate more to messages about the immediate effects of tobacco use (such as poor athletic performance) than to its long-term consequences.
- Adopting and enforcing a tobacco-free policy for players, coaches, and referees.
- Giving a copy of the tobacco-free policy for parents to review and urging them not to smoke in the presence of youngsters.
- Talking to youngsters about ways to refuse tobacco if offered.
- Helping youngsters practice refusing tobacco products by using role play.
If you are a smoker, the best thing that you can do to keep the 
youngsters around you away from cigarettes is to quit using tobacco. Only 2% of adolescent smokers have nonsmoking parents, but 15% of adolescent smokers have both a mother and father who smoke.
If you are trying to quit using tobacco but have not fully quit, then avoid:
- Using tobacco in the presence of youth.
- Using tobacco in the house or vehicle.
- Leaving tobacco products where youth can access them.
Coach and parental disapproval of smoking, even from smoking parents, can help prevent adolescent smoking. Talking to youth about the dangers of using tobacco must begin in grade school because 25% of adolescents have smoked a cigarette before age 13. For additional information on how to talk to youth about the dangers of smoking, click here or visit the AIA Academy’s Archived Tobacco Articles.
For additional help and information about quitting tobacco, call the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline at 1-800-556-6222 or visit their website at www.ashline.org .
|
