Facts

Here are a few facts we have found in respect of smoking.  We have separated the facts into the following categories:

• Addiction among adults
• Smoking among children
• What is in a cigarette
• Smoking-related ill health and mortality
• Giving up, getting healthier
• Giving up, saving money.

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Addiction among adults, aged 16 and over in England, in 2005/06:

• 39% of adults who were current or ex-regular smokers started smoking before the age of 16.
• Men were more likely than women to have started smoking before the age of 16.
• 72% of current adult smokers reported that they wanted to give up smoking, with health being the most common reason.

Smoking among children
For pupils aged 11 to 15 in England, in 2006:

• 39% of pupils reported having tried smoking at least once.
• 9% of children reported that they were regular smokers (smoked at least once a week).
• Girls are more likely to smoke than boys.
• Older pupils are also more likely to smoke regularly than younger pupils.
• Children who truanted from school were estimated to be more than twice as likely to smoke as those who have not truanted.
• Overall, over four in ten of current smokers were secret smokers (said that their family did not know they smoked).
• Two thirds of pupils who smoked identified shops as one of their usual sources of cigarettes, including newsagents or tobacconists.
• 43% per cent of children aged 11-15 who smoked reported that they wanted to give up smoking, and 67% of children had tried to give up smoking.
• 1% of 11 year olds smoke regularly in England, but by the time they reach 15 years old, that figure has gone up by 21%.

If your child smokes, Cancer Research UK give helpful ways of tackling this difficult issue.

What is in a Cigarette

Cigarette smoke is a toxic cocktail of 69 cancer-causing chemicals and hundreds of other poisons, including:

• Arsenic
• Benzene
• Carbon Monoxide
• Formaldehyde
• Hydrogen Cyanide
• Polonium.

For further information on what a cigarette is made up of, see the 'Smoke is Poison' website.
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokeispoison/

Smoking-related ill health and mortality

• Half of all people who continue to smoke will be killed by it - losing an average of 16 years of life.
• In England in 2005/06 there were approximately 1.7 million Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) in England with a primary diagnosis of a disease that can be caused by smoking. This figure has been steadily rising each year and is around 570,000 more than it was in 1995/96.
• In 2005, around 81,900 deaths in England (17 per cent of all deaths of adults aged 35 and over) were estimated to be caused by smoking.  Among those aged 35 and over, it is estimated that in 2005, around 36,700 cancer deaths, 23,600 deaths from respiratory diseases, 20,000 deaths from circulatory diseases and 1,600 of deaths from diseases of the digestive system were attributable to smoking.
• Smoking is associated with more than 50 different diseases and disorders – many fatal. It has been known that smoking causes lung cancer since the 1950s.

Giving up, getting healthier

After not smoking for:

• 20 minutes – Your blood pressure and pulse return to normal.
• 8 hours – Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in your blood are halved.
• 24 hours – Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from your body, and your lungs will have started to clear out the tar in them.
• 48 hours – No nicotine left in your body. Your senses of taste and smell are greatly improved.
• 72 hours – your breathing becomes easier and your energy levels increase.
• 2-12 weeks – your circulation improves and exercise is easier.
• 3-9 months – any coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function is increased by upto 10%.
• 5 years – Risk of heart attack halved.
• 10 years – Risk of lung cancer is halved. Risk of heart attack is at the same level as non-smokers.

Medium to long term:

• Increased life expectancy.
• Even if you have developed disease, you can benefit from stopping as your body would be under less strain and be able to fight it more easily.

Reduced risk of developing:

• Lung cancer
• Other cancers
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Chronic lung disease.

For Life:

• You'll be less stressed and tired, and physical activity will be easier.  Food will taste better and your skin will look younger.

Giving up, saving money

• The actual cost for a basic rate taxpayer of smoking 20 a day for a year is £2,429!

What else could you have done with that money? For a 20 a day smoker:

1 day

£5.20 = A movie rental or a few magazines.

1 week

£36.40 = A cheap flight to Europe or a few CDs or DVDs.

1 month

£158 = A shopping spree or the monthly food shopping bill

3 months

£474 = Two week holiday or a new computer

6 months

£949 = A family holiday or some new furniture

1 year

£1,898 = A second-hand car or part of a deposit for a house.

40 years

£75,920 = Early retirement!

Fact Sources

• www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/smoking/statistics-on-smoking-england-2007-[ns]
• www.ash.org.uk
• http://www.bhf.org.uk/yheart/default.aspx?page=2