Healthy People 2020:
Tobacco Use in Adolescents and Young Adults
Lori A. Montoya
Tacoma Community College
Healthy People 2020: Tobacco Use in Adolescents and Young Adults
Healthy People 2020 is a government funded program, under the Department of Health and Human Services, that “provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2012, para.1). Because tobacco use in adolescence and young adults continues to have such a negative impact on our nation, Healthy People 2020 have implemented reducing tobacco use in adolescence as one of their objectives. It is estimated that, “more than 700,000 middle school students and three million high school students currently smoke”(DHHS; Office of Adolescent Health, 2014, para.1). This is an important fact because tobacco use is predominantly introduced and established during the adolescent years with, “nearly 90% of adult smokers in the United States began smoking by age 18 years” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013, para.1). Therefore, preventing and discontinuing adolescent tobacco use is a vital task for nurses to take on in order to improve the health of our nation. This research paper will discuss the impact of tobacco use on the nation, manifestation of tobacco use, complications of tobacco use, and adolescent and young adult education and prevention of tobacco use.
The Impact of Tobacco Use on the Nation
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Office of Adolescent Health (2013), “More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol, motor vehicle injuries,...
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Every year in the United States, more than 480,000 people die from tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke; consequently, making this the leading cause of preventable death in this country. People are usually introduced to smoking at a young age; mostly around the preteen years. During this critical time preteen are transitioning from middle school to high school; teens at this age find it a little harder fitting in with others all while forming their own sense of identity. Preteens only pick up the habit of smoking to cope with these challenges. What these teens do not know is that smoking at an early age only increases their chances of suffering from a lifelong addiction. To help assuage the situation the Nicotinell anti-smoking organization
Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. During 1995, approximately 2.1 million people in developed countries died as a result of smoking. One tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths in the United States. Lung Cancer mortality are about 23 times higher for current male smokers and 13 times higher for current female smokers compared to a lifelong never-smoker.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide (Centers for Disease Control, 2013, World Health Organization, 2008). Tobacco cessation counseling is a vital component of any public health strategy seeking to decrease mortality, disease and costs associated with smoking. To that end, the Healthy People 2020 Tobacco Use Objectives cover three main areas: reducing tobacco use, instituting health system changes, and creating social and environmental changes (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Objective TU-10 falls under the category of health system changes as it seeks to open doors for patients to make quit attempts and to pursue tobacco cessation methods by increasing tobacco cessation counseling by physicians and other health care providers.
Teen smoking has been increasing since 1991. There are economic, psychological and sociological factors that play an important role in this increase.
Because you regularly smoke tobacco, which is one of the most avoidable risk factors for cancer, I wish to inform you of a research article that reveals progression toward understanding the mechanism by which tobacco smoke damages the genome, an organism’s complete set of DNA, and creates the mutations that ultimately cause cancer.
Tobacco is counted as one of the most dangerous drug and is one of the leading preventable causes of deaths in U.S. Many people put their life in danger by the use of this life taking drug, tobacco. The way Nicotine (which is derived from the tobacco plant and has very powerful affects on human body) works in our brain is by mimicking the actions of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACh). Acetylcholine (ACh) and its receptors perform various functions of our body, including muscle movement, breathing, heart rate, learning, and memory. Acetylochine is also involved in releasing other neurotransmitters and hormones that affect our appetite, mood etc. When nicotine is introduced to our body, nicotine molecules, which are shaped like acetylcholine, take over the actions of acetylcholine and perform all its functions. Although, many studies described the negative health issues caused by the use of tobacco, the article, “Gender and the tobacco-depression” emphases on the relationship of tobacco and depression and its possible variations by gender in African America young adults.
The prevalent use of tobacco products among Americans is an important issue that should be brought to the surface. This issue should be raised because many of the diseases and illnesses associated with tobacco use are preventable. Most individuals are aware of the health threats associated with tobacco use, but are unable to quit. As future healthcare professionals, part of our duty is to educate the public about these health threats as well as help tobacco users quit. Throughout this paper we will inform about the various tobacco products, the effects they pose on the body, cessation options and strategies available for users, and learning outcomes.
Through public education, most elementary school kids can understand that smoking is bad for them and that cigarettes are additive. Cigarettes are addictive due to nicotine, a drug found in tobacco (“Quitting Smoking”, 2015). According to Schneider (2016), some of the greatest health problems associated with smoking include: lung cancer, other cancers, coronary heart disease, other heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, other vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), prenatal conditions, and sudden infant death syndrome. As stated by the Authority of the American Lung Association in an article titled “Health
Smoking is a lifestyle, a habit, and a trend. Smoking has become a social activity among teens, connecting them through the craving of a smoke. Smoking is seen as seductive and cool in the media and movies which influences teenagers to smoke even more. The World Health Organization has stated that “Tobacco kills around 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.” As of April 2016, only 7% of teenagers in the U.S. smoke, but it is said that tobacco use will kill 8 million people annually by 2030. 99% of adult smokers start in their years as teenagers. Smoking is an epidemic that has taken control of people’s lives since 1881 and the media since the early 1900s. Smoking currently kills about 440,000 people a year in the U.S. I feel that it is an issue because it is the #1 most preventable way to die, but people still continue to smoke because of how it looks and how they are perceived as a person if they do. The fact that people become addicted to a trend that will attribute to their death for the sake of being thought of as cooler, is a problem that needs to be addressed.
In recent years, smoking has started to take over the lives of many teenagers. The number of teenagers smoking has increased dramatically in the last several years. This is a major problem because smoking can lead to sickness and major diseases that can lead to death. Teens tend to participate in this while out of the presence of an adult figure. Although teens should not be smoking in the first place, an adult figure should be around to help insure that their children are doing the right things, even when they are behind sealed doors with their peers. Teenagers as they mature become a model for younger children and when they set the example of smoking can ruin their respectable image to the children that look up to them.
Tobacco use causes a number of diseases. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, and causes lung diseases. Tobacco can lead to someone losing limbs and...
Today, there has been an increase in the amount of teenagers who smoke half a pack a day of cigarettes. The number of seniors in high school who have tried cigarettes has decreased over the years, but the number of those who smoke occasionally or half a pack or more a day, has increased. There are many factors as to why teenagers smoke including advertising and teen behavior. There are also a few ways we can stop teenagers from wanting to smoke. Therefore, we need to make teens aware that smoking is not good for you and it is not cool and we need to figure out why teens think it is cool. We need to find out why teens smoke and how we can make the
Tobacco is made from dried up tobacco leaves prepared with chemicals to create products such as: chewing tobacco, dip, and loose tobacco to be smoked on cigarettes and pipes. There is a demand for tobacco and if companies were to stop making tobacco, then another company will sell it due to supply and demand. Even though people do choose to buy tobacco products on their own free will. Tobacco companies are partly to blame for smoking related illnesses and deaths since they knowingly create a product that is harmful, in addition, they try to appeal to a younger audience, and lastly, tobacco products are highly addictive.
Tobacco and alcohol are two kind of drug are used and abuse in United States. Both of the drugs are legal in United States but that doesn’t a necessary mean that tobacco and alcohol is better for health. More than 500,000 people died from tobacco every year in United States, while more than 75,000 people died from alcohol every year in United States. Minimum age to buy tobacco is 18 year and to buy alcohol is 21. 75% or more people died from tobacco than alcohol but still in United States the tobacco. Both of them tobacco and alcohol drugs are bad for heath and it can lead to death. Lot of people is drive while drinking or smoking, even though it is against the law. Most of them are young people who are between 21 to 25 age year old, they thinking that drinking or smoking while driving is cool but they don’t realizes that it is not good for themselves.
People take drugs, tobacco and alcohol for different reasons and some is a result of their background, for leisure and so forth. These uses pose a threat to the health and well-being of adolescents. Adolescents and young adults in their 20s are at the highest risk for illicit drug use. For some drug users, use that begins in adolescence continues well into adulthood. “Addiction is a developmental disease; the earlier an adolescent begins drug use, the more likely their use will progress to become serious abuse or addiction (Johnston, 2012)”. There for earlier exposure is the major impact in addiction and dependence to some extent.