Preventing the first cigarette
Most adult smokers started smoking before they were 18 years old. In July 2008 NICE published guidance on ways to prevent children and young people picking up that first cigarette.
Professor Catherine Law, who chairs NICE's Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee, explained: "Children who smoke become addicted to nicotine very quickly and research shows the earlier you start smoking the harder it is to give up in later life. If starting is delayed or prevented there is the potential to reduce the number of early deaths attributed to smoking and improve health throughout life."
Mass media campaigns are effective, she said. Evidence-based messages can be used to put young people off smoking and empower them to refuse offers of cigarettes.
The guidance looks at how those with an interest in children's health can jointly develop mass media campaigns, whether national, local or regional. It also spells out what national and local organisations should be doing to help enforce the existing law prohibiting under-age tobacco sales.
We have already published three sets of public health guidance on smoking cessation, but our remit in this case was to look at how to approach children and young people specifically. These recommendations were developed to complement existing activities, with the aim of supporting a comprehensive tobacco control strategy.
This page was last updated: 11 August 2009
