Why People Smoke Essay

1340 Words3 Pages

Investigate some of the reasons why individuals take up smoking and why might people continue to smoke?
1. Did you know that 1 in 10 adult smokers die from tobacco related illnesses? But still people smoke. Why would they still smoke even though they know the effects? Actually why do they even start? One of the reasons done because of the “cool” look you get from smoking. We have movies to blame for that but that still doesn’t mean it should be done. Peer pressure plays a big part in teenager’s lives and most kids are highly susceptible to it. This is just a few of the many reasons people start to smoke. There is also the feeling to be rebellious resulting in teens smoking to show they don’t care about rules or laws. There is also mental addiction (craving the “after meal” e.g. having one after lunch or during work, basically where and when you used to smoke), physical addiction (the addictive substance nicotine, on its own harmless but makes you crave for a cigarette on a whole) and stress. Stress is the biggest factor because smoking a cigarette relaxes a lot of people and soothes their crave for one. There is also the biggest factor of nicotine which is the addictive substance in a cigarette. This is one of the main reasons people continue to smoke because it is very hard to stop an addiction.

2. Investigate the short and long term health effects related smoking. You may like to create a table listing these and investigate each health effect.
Long term effects Short term effects
Cardio Vascular disease Smokers cough
Lung cancer Blood pressure
Throat cancer Heartburn

Osteoporosis Chest tightness
Circulation problems Bad breath

Long term effects
Cardio vascular disease- Cardio vascular disease is when your arteries are b...

... middle of paper ...

...the risk of health problems like miscarriage or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), premature labour and ectopic pregnancy. The carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen getting to the baby, nicotine reduces how well your placenta works, and smoking affects your baby’s brain and lungs. The baby could have a weak immune system, weak lungs which could very well carry on into their adulthood, the baby been overweight or obese in childhood. If you quit before the or during the first three months of your pregnancy you could reduce complications during birth, your baby having a healthy birth weight, reduce the risk of illness during their infant/childhood years and reducing the risk of a premature delivery. If you stop smoking after the first 3 months it helps your baby practice their breathing movements with ease and has a better chance of a healthy birth weight.

Open Document