What Are the Health Effects of Smoking in Teens?
If you start smoking cigarettes on a regular basis, you will probably soon experience these health effects: • shortness of breath • persistent coughing • production of phlegm (thick mucus in your throat) • reduced physical fitness • yellow stains on your teeth and fingers • decreased sense of taste and smell • more colds and flu • poorer lung growth • difficulty recovering from minor illnesses In time, you may notice that you develop facial wrinkles earlier and look older than your friends who don’t smoke. This may not seem too important when you’re 15, but wait until you’re 30 and look like you’re 40! Some day, you may experience one or more of the serious health problems mentioned in Why it’s Important to Quit. These include cancer, heart disease, and stroke. If smoking rates stay constant, more than 6.4 million children living today will die of a smoking-related disease.
