Smoking // Current

Teen smokers have few resources to help them quit

Cassie Graham began smoking at 15. Now 17, she is trying to quit. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1 in... more

nazbags
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States' Use Of Tobacco Money Varies Widely

Ten years ago this week, states' attorneys general and Big Tobacco settled the largest civil case in American history, giving... more

bonemachine
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Barack Obama: the 50 facts you might not know

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school... more

BuddyP
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Smoking Kills 443,000 Prematurely in U.S....that's retarded

2nd of Friday's picks - Can't people just stop smoking? Ok, sure, maybe its hard but I guess dying is easier...

DailyMenendez
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Salvia soaring in Google searches

Salvia, or diviner's sage, has jumped up the charts in Google searches with "Salvia" and "Salvia Effects"... more

Stevox
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Little White Lines

Filmmaker Joel H. Hinojosa takes you on a personal journey with Little White Lines, a snapshot into the life of Travis Bilenski. A... more

joelhinojosa
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Anti-smoking drug linked to 10 British suicides

Health chiefs have revealed that ten people have committed suicide after taking a controversial anti-smoking drug linked to... more

TravG73
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HAND ROLLED ON 29TH STREET

How to Roll a Cigar, New York Style Bert Shapiro, of Pheasant’s Eye Productions, is a very talented independent... more

berts
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Mother being poisoned by car has been saved

As part of her "stop smoking" programme, Annette Bolesworth went to her local chemist for a carbon monoxide blood test.... more

ClareW
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Smokers banned from fostering

LONDON (Reuters) - A council has become the first in London to rule that smokers will no longer be able to foster children. ... more

TyMarshal
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Liquid Smoking Drink Aims To Give Cigarette Buzz To Smokers In A Can

The nicotine-free Liquid Smoking drink claims to give the same buzz as cigarettes. It is aimed at those who struggle to cope with... more

mjsmith11
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Smokers' Homes More Likely to House Hungry Kids

Children who live with adult smokers are more likely to be underfed and undernourished, a new study finds.

The same is true for adult members of smoking households, but children feel the impact the most, said study author Dr. Michael Weitzman, chairman of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine.

"We know that there are long-term consequences of food insecurity for children. They are more likely to do poorly in school, to have iron deficiency and anemia, and to have behavioral and social problems," Weitzman said.

"Food insecurity" is a concept that was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1990s to study malnutrition in developed countries such as the United States. "It is a standardized scale measuring how many times a household cannot give children the food they want, how many meals they skip, how often they go to bed hungry," Weitzman said.

Looking at data on 8,817 households gathered in national surveys by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Weitzman and his colleagues found that 15 percent of adults and 11 percent of children reported food insecurity within the past year, with 6 percent of adults and 1 percent of children experiencing severe food insecurity. This meant they went to bed hungry, because there wasn't enough food in the house.

The study found that 23 percent of households with children had at least one smoker, with the incidence higher -- 32 percent -- in low-income households. In those households with a smoker, 17 percent of children were food insecure, compared to 8.7 percent of those children in nonsmoking households. Severe food insecurity was reported for 3.2 percent of children in smoking households, compared to 0.9 percent of those living in households with no smokers.

Because families with at least one smoker spend an estimated 2 percent to 20 percent of their income on tobacco, it's quite likely that smokers' habits drain the money needed to provide adequate food, according to background information with the study.

Parents feel the food pinch themselves, Weitzman said. "They cut back on feeding themselves before they cut back on the children's food," he said. "And parents tend to feed the youngest children better." Children who live with adult smokers are more likely to be underfed and undernourished, a new study finds. The same is true for... more