Why do people start smoking and continue smoking? Most of them start when they are teenagers for many reasons. They want to look “cool,” fit in with their peers, and are more likely to smoke if their friends and family smoke. Most adult smokers started smoking before they were 15 years old. Smoking creates an “image” that many teenagers associate with smoking. It’s being tough, cool, sexy, attractive or as a form of rebellion.
Why do they continue to smoke? They continue to smoke because it is habit forming. The chemicals, especially the nicotine reduces the withdrawal symptoms between cigarettes. Smoking is an addiction.
Teenagers can quickly become addicted to the nicotine habit. They begin smoking because their friends smoke, and continue to smoke especially in certain situations. Teenagers smoke if they are talking on the phone, after eating, with caffeine products or alcohol, and just sitting around with their friends. They don’t necessarily notice a “craving” just smoke automatically in certain situations.
Stress also can cause a teenager to smoke, or if they are angry, depressed, or bored. It gives them an emotional boost if their feelings are unbalanced. Third, it is physically addicting because of the nicotine in the cigarette smoke. This nicotine addiction starts immediately after a teenager starts smoking regularly. Teenagers are aware of the dangers, but increasingly more are starting to smoke in their early teens.
What does smoking do to your body? It damages small blood vessels, restricts the flow of blood to hands and feet, and could even cause gangrene and amputation. If you smoke you are ten times more likely to die early from stroke or heart disease. Smokers suffer from severe bronchitis and emphysema more often than non-smokers. Smoking affects your breathing and you don’t have to have bronchitis or emphysema. There is a decrease in lung capacity and a smoker will have a harder time with physical activities such as swimming, jogging, playing sports, or working out in an aerobics class.
Smoking is the main cause of throat, lung, and mouth cancer. It really does harm your body! What else does smoking do? It makes you smell bad. Smoke clings to your hair, clothing, and especially your breath. Think about kissing an ashtray, that’s what it is like to kiss a smoker. If you are a smoker, chances are, you’ve gotten used to the smell of the tobacco and don’t even notice it anymore. Remember other people can still smell it.
Smoking turns your fingers and teeth yellow, makes your skin age faster, and affects your complexion. As well as the health concerns, think of how much money you would save by kicking the habit.
The good news in all of this is your body can repair itself quickly if you stop smoking. Nicotine will leave your body in less than two hours; the deadly carbon monoxide leaves the body’s blood stream after twelve hours. All other by-products of nicotine are gone within two days! It only takes two months for the circulation in your arms and legs and even better news, your lungs start to repair themselves in about three months. After a person has stopped smoking, they will notice their sense of smell and taste returns, you enjoy your food more, and your skin will lose the grayish cast that all smokers’ skin has.
Best of all, your body will be free of stale tobacco smell, and your chances of getting heart disease or skin cancer starts to fall.
Maybe your teenager thinks they are immune to all of these symptoms by smoking “light or filtered” cigarettes. There is no evidence of any kind that shows a reduction in health risks by smoking light cigarettes. They are just as addictive as a regular cigarette, they will still cause heart and lung disease and they still contain as much nicotine and tar. You aren’t saving your body from health risks by smoking these cigarettes.
The important thing to do is to talk to your teenagers, keep lines of communication open, and try to point out the dangers in pre-teens and teens beginning to smoke.
July 29, 2007
Cigarette Smoking and Teenagers
Backpack Safety for Teenagers
Children start carrying backpacks to preschool. Three years old and encouraged to bring a backpack to school! This sets up a pattern that is followed all through school. Sure, the little girls look so cute with their pink princess backpack as they get on the bus, but the bag normally comes home as empty as it went.
Backpacks can be useful for school-age children and useful for teens. They come in many sizes, shapes, and colors and allow teens to express their individual personalities. They’re also practical with the many compartments that help them tote notebooks, books, papers, lunches, and the many other items that teens need to carry. Backpacks are considered safer to carry than a shoulder bag or purse because the strongest muscles in the body support the backpack. The shoulder muscles, back muscles, and the abdominal muscles are used to support the weight of a backpack.
It’s recommended that teens carry no more than 15% of their body weight in their backpack. They can cause muscle and joint strains, and back pain if the backpack is too heavy or not used in the right way. Shoulder, neck, and back pain can result in carrying a too heavy backpack. When your teen is carrying a pack that is too heavy, they may overcompensate by bending at the hips, or arcing the back to be able to carry it. This compresses the disk in the spine to compress and teens could start having back and shoulder pain.
Teens sometimes try to carry their whole locker with them during school. They either don’t have enough time to go to their lockers between classes. On the other hand, they just don’t want to visit their locker. They may also have personal belongings, laptops, DVD players, and CD collections.
If your teen wants to carry their backpack over their shoulder, they may end up with more problems. It can cause them to lean to one side to compensate for the added weight and cause them to develop upper and lower back pain, neck pain, and strain their shoulders. Improper use of the backpack can also encourage poor posture. Girls are more at risk for backpack injuries because they are smaller and try to carry loads in their backpack that are too heavy for them.
Tight narrow straps can interfere with circulation when they dig into shoulders and can cause nerve damage. Weakness in the teen’s arms and hands, tingling, and a numb sensation can also be caused by too tight, too small straps on a backpack.
Those large backpacks can also be a hazard to other people. Your teenager probably doesn’t realize how big their pack is and it can harm someone, especially in confined spaces, like the aisles of a bus. They’re also a tripping hazard and injuries have been reported by other teens falling over backpacks that are extending into aisles either in classrooms or buses. The risk of falling for someone wearing a backpack is greater because your sense of balance is altered, especially while climbing stairs.
Some hints to helping your teen avoid physical problems and still carry their essentials in a backpack. First, buy a backpack that is lightweight to start with. Leather may look cooler but they will add extra weight that your teen doesn’t need to carry. A lightweight canvas or nylon bag is recommended. They should be equipped with two padded, wide shoulder straps that won’t dig into their shoulders. A waist belt can also help by spreading the weight more evenly over the body. It also doesn’t hurt to find one with a padded back that will give them extra carrying comfort. In addition, a backpack with multiple compartments is good for dividing the weight more evenly.
Some teens that carry, a lot of belongings sometimes will use a pull behind pack similar to pull behind carry-on luggage. These may ease the back pain but are harder to get upstairs, or roll outside. Some schools discourage use of rolling backpacks because of the tripping hazard they present in the halls.
As a parent, if you are aware of the health dangers involved in carrying a backpack, you can be proactive in finding the right one for your teen and making sure they don’t overload it.
Diarrhea and Your Child
One of the most common problems of infants and early childhood is diarrhea. This affliction is often caused by gastrointestinal infections. Diarrhea features loose, watery bowels and can be caused by viruses, bacteria infections, and even parasites. Probably your child will display various symptoms. Starting with cramps and abdominal pain with diarrhea following. It can last for a few days or a few weeks.
If your child experiences two weeks of diarrhea, this could be severe diarrhea. Babies with this often begin to lose weight and stop growing. They many not show any other symptoms but severe diarrhea is a real problem because it can lead to severe dehydration, especially in infants and small children.
Most diarrheas are usually caused by infections, but could be associated with parasites, bacteria, and viruses or even by toxic material in the system. If that is the case, other symptoms also go with chronic diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss.
If you find blood in your child’s stool, that is a serious infection that is causing damage to the lining of the bowel.
Rotavirus is a common virus in American children. Commonly found in children during the winter and early spring months, it can be found on play items and toys. These germs can live for long periods on these items and day care centers, preschool, and children’s hospitals are especially vulnerable. One way to rid your toys of this virus is to often and thoroughly spray with a disinfectant. It only takes a few minutes but is important to the health of your children and the children you care for. Frequent hand washing can reduce rapid outbreaks in these environments. Caregivers should set good examples, by washing hands after sneezing, coughing, or blowing their nose. If hand washing that often isn’t practical in that environment, you can substitute antibacterial waterless hand wash. Children should wash their hands before they eat and after using the toilet. Dirty hands carry infectious germs and carry infections to all areas of the body. The child could bite their nails, put any part of their hands or fingers in their mouth after they have touched an item that has active bacteria.
With frequent and thorough washing of their hands, another way to avoid infections that cause diarrhea is to keep all bathroom surfaces clean. Use a good disinfectant and if there is someone already sick in your household, it could help someone else from getting diarrhea.
Avoid infectious germs and bacteria by washing all fruits and vegetable before they are eaten. Keeping your kitchen counters and cooking utensils clean, especially after working with raw meat and poultry is another good precaution. Always refrigerate meat as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Cook them thoroughly and refrigerated leftovers immediately.
Diarrhea is infectious and can spread throughout the family or child’s environment by dirty hands, or by touching something that has the active bacteria alive and well on it. Again, frequent hand washing will help keep the infection from spreading.
Children and infants who have been exposed to a germ that causes diarrhea will start to show symptoms in as little as four hours or as long as seventy-two hours. The length of the symptoms will vary depending on what type of virus or bacteria it’s being caused from. Normally your child will recover after a few days. The child should rest and drink plenty of fluids. If the child is young or has a compromised immune system, antibiotics may be given to keep any infection from spreading to other parts of the body.
When is diarrhea serious enough to warrant a trip to the doctor or emergency room? If the child’s diarrhea has lasted for a longtime, if accompanied by fever, vomiting or severe pain in the abdomen or if you notice blood in the child’s stool. It’s especially important to control dehydration. Signs to look for: dry lips and tongue, sunken eyes, listlessness, and especially a decrease in urination. For an infant if they have fewer than six wet diapers a day that would be a cause for concern and a visit to the doctor would be called for.
Children and Fever
It’s scary when you realize your child has a fever, but unfortunately, most parents will face the problem with their child. All kids get fevers and are usually back to normal within a few days. The way your child is acting is more of an indicator sometimes than a fever. Don’t be concerned if they are cranky, everyone gets cranky when they have temperature even adults. If your child stops playing, smiling, eating and drinking and they don’t urinate regularly, that is a sign you should contact your child’s doctor.
There are several reliable methods to take your child’s temperature. Kissing their forehead or laying your hand lightly will tell you if they feel warm. The most reliable way to find out if they are running a temperature is to use a thermometer. There are many different thermometers and ways to take a child’s temperature.
The old-fashioned glass mercury thermometer is not recommended for use because of possible exposure to mercury. If you have one of these thermometers, don’t just toss it in the garbage. It could cause the mercury to leak out. Talk to your health department or your doctor for ways of disposing this thermometer.
Plastic strip thermometers are another means of registering temperature but are not as accurate as a digital thermometer used orally or rectally. They are placed against your child’s forehead. These are especially good for use in infants younger than a year old. They will tell you if your child has a temperature but aren’t reliable for an accurate reading. If you require an accurate reading then use a digital thermometer.
Pacifier thermometers also are convenient for seeing if the child has a temperature but isn’t recommended in infants younger than three months. The problem with the pacifier thermometer is that they require the child to remain motionless for several moments, and that is nearly impossible with most babies and toddlers.
Electronic ear thermometers have become popular in the last few years. They measure the tympanic temperature, the temperature inside the ear canal. They are quick and easy to use in children they aren’t as accurate for very young children. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against using these thermometers for infants younger than three months.
The digital thermometer takes the quickest and most accurate readings. They are available for sale in supermarkets, pharmacies, and other retail suppliers. Digital thermometers usually have an easy-to-read digital display on one end and a flexible probe with temperature sensor at the other end. You can use a digital thermometer in one of three ways, orally, rectally, or axillary (under the arm.)
No matter what method you use to take your child’s temperature, there are a couple of things to remember. Wait at least 20-30 minutes after the child has eaten or drank anything before taking their temperature. Also, if they have been bundled tightly or held close to your body, this can cause a higher temperature reading. Don’t take a child’s temperature right after a bath, or leave a child unattended while taking their temperature.
How can you make your child feel better if they have a temperature? In most cases, a fever doesn’t need to be treated unless it’s causing your child to be uncomfortable. If your child has other symptoms that are causing discomfort, you can give them acetaminophen or ibuprofen within the guidelines given on the package. Never give aspirin to a child under 12 because of its association with Reye syndrome, which is rare, but a fatal disease. Fever medication will bring a fever down temporarily, but eventually it will rise again. Treat the symptoms and not the fever.
Give your child a sponge bath, using only lukewarm water. Don’t put your child in a cool or cold bath. This will only make the body react by raising their temperature. Cold packs, or cold baths can cause chills that also will raise your child’s temperature.
Never, no matter what your parents did, rub your child down with rubbing alcohol! It can cause poisoning when absorbed by their skin.
Dress your child in lightweight clothing and cover them with a light blanket or sheet. Overdressing can also elevate the temperature.
When your child is running a temperature, be sure to offer plenty of liquids to avoid the chance of dehydration. Water, popsicles, Jell-O, and soup are all things that will help them to stay hydrated.
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