Children and Adolescents
The most significant predictor of youth smoking is parental tobacco use.
Parents should be urged to stop smoking to prevent serious health implications for their children.
Clinicians should screen pediatric and adolescent patients and their parents for tobacco use and provide a strong message about totally abstaining from tobacco use.
Clinicians need to assess adolescent tobacco use and offer developmentally appropriate cessation counseling and behavioral interventions shown to be effective with adults.
Children and adolescents may benefit from community- and school-based intervention activities. The clinician should reinforce the messages delivered in these programs.
Clinicians in a pediatric setting should offer stop-smoking advice to parents to limit children's exposure to second-hand smoke.
