Know the Score
Feeling the pressure of so called mates constantly asking you if you “want to try a fag??”. It gets annoying doesn’t it! After a while you start thinking you’re the only one on the planet who doesn’t smoke – but don’t fall for the hype! Here’s the low down on how many people actually smoke – I bet it’s no where near as many as you think!
So…how many young people actually smoke?
Take a guess – what percentage of 11-15 year olds do you think smoke? Lower, lower, lower than that!
You may be shocked to find out that only 9% of 11-15 year olds (7% boys and 10% girls) smoke regularly (smoking regularly means smoking one or more cigarettes a week). So this means that most young people DON’T SMOKE – even though it looks that way sometimes!
It’s true – more young people start smoking when they get a bit older. By looking at the table below, you can see that only 1% of 11 year olds smoke, compared to 21% of 15 year olds – but this still means that 79% of 15 year olds DON’T SMOKE! So actually, you’re not the odd one out if you don’t smoke – smokers are!
You may also be surprised to hear that only 26% of adults smoke (28% men and 24% women). Once again, this means that the majority of adults – 74% are non-smokers! And amongst those adults who do smoke – 70% say they would like to quit, which shows that most adult smokers are really fed up about being addicted to the cigs.
That’s why it makes sense not to smoke in the first place – why waste your money on something you’ll end up regretting?!
Facts or Myths?
I bet you’ve heard loads of reasons why young people start to smoke e.g. it controls stress, it makes you look grown up, etc. But do you think that these are facts or myths? Check out the So…why do young people smoke section to find out more.
