A new ‘Smokefree Generation’ of children say that they will never try a cigarette, think that smoking is really uncool and are increasingly worried about the health of smoking parents according to new research conducted on behalf of NHS Stop Smoking Services.
The research, which polled 1,000 children in England aged 8-13, coincides with the launch of a powerful new Department of Health advertising campaign aimed at getting loved ones to stop smoking. It features real children, not actors, talking about how concerned they are about their parents’ smoking.
Gillian Merron, Public Health Minister said:
'We understand how difficult it is to stop smoking. I hope this new campaign will give mums and dads the encouragement they need to realise they can do it with help from the NHS, and support from their children.
Key findings include:
Almost all (96%) children with a smoking parent wish that they would quit.
- Nine out of 10 children surveyed have never tried a cigarette, with 91% of these believing that they will never try one.
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of children whose parents smoke would rather their parents quit smoking than give them more pocket money.
- More than 9 out of 10 children think that older people who smoke don’t look cool.
- One in 4 children (27%) believe that smoking could be extinct by 2030.
This emerging picture of the first ‘Smokefree Generation’ is backed up by the latest Information Centre statistics on tobacco which show that regular smoking among 11 to 15 year olds has halved since its peak in the mid 1990s.
The majority of children are clear on the risks of smoking, with nine out of 10 (87%) children polled believing that people smoking around them is damaging to their health, and three quarters (76%) recognising that it increases the likelihood of developing cancer.
Make your home a smoke free home today.