A four-year study of 1246 middle school children found that even one cigarette a month can lead to addiction.

Dr. Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center found that two-thirds of the children in the study who had tried cigarettes smoked at least once a month. Half of them experienced symptoms of cravings and dependence when they tried to quit.

• Dr. DiFranza said his study found that after two years, one-third of the students who had tried cigarettes had little control over their habit.
• As time went by, they were likely to smoke cigarettes more often, and became irritable and experienced difficulty concentrating when they were deprived of nicotine.
• After three years, one in four students who tried to stop smoking experienced withdrawal symptoms.

This study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: tobacco use, addiction, middle_school, cigarettes

Posted By: Aspen Education Group