Only one in 10 children with non-smoking parents takes up smoking, a consultant medical oncologist said last night. Therefore parents must give up smoking for their children's sake, according to Dr Desmond Carney.
In his lecture to mark World No Tobacco Day in Dublin, Dr Carney said children who started smoking between the ages of 14 and 18 were much more likely to become addicted than teenagers who started after this age.
Meanwhile, an on-line straw poll conducted by The Irish Times website Ireland.com found that the majority of participants favoured the banning of smoking. Of the 1,038 readers who participated in the on-line survey, 52 per cent believed smoking should be made illegal.
Dr Carney said scare tactics such as heart attack warnings had no effect on young people. Instead, he recommended highlighting the ageing effects of smoking and the negative effects of smoking for sports people. While teenage girls imagine that smoking keeps them slim and attractive, Dr Carney said the young women often forget about stained teeth, wrinkled skin and the possibility of infertility. Teenage smokers spend £1,500 a year on cigarettes. Dr Carney also pointed out that smoking causes four million deaths a year worldwide.
The Mater Hospital now operates a walk-in smoking cessation programme. People who call to the centre will receive advice and support on quitting the habit.
All babies born in the North Eastern Health Board area this year will be presented with a certificate saying they were "Born a non-smoker". The initiative is part of the board's campaign to highlight the dangers from passive smoking and it was launched yesterday.
One of the first recipients was Suzanne Gibney who was born in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. Her mother, Michelle, does not smoke and says she will ensure her first child is not exposed to passive smoking.