Title:

Smoking and Health

Publish Date:

September 2010

ISBN:

978 1 86168 561 2

Covering Ages:

11 to 14 years

Issue Description

Recent statistics indicate that over 100,000 people die every year in the UK from smoking-related diseases, and yet despite the risks people continue to smoke. This book looks at the physical effects of smoking, including heart disease and lung cancer, and discusses the social
stigma attached to smoking.

The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspapers and magazine articles, surveys and polls, academic research and literature from charities and lobby groups; articles have been tailored to an 11 to 14 age group. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are two pages of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.

Price:

£5.95

Quantity:

Key Facts

• Each cigarette contains around 4,000 chemicals, including arsenic, cyanide, tar and carbon monoxide. (page 1)
  
  
• The damage caused by smoking can lead to cancer of the lung, larynx, gullet or bladder. (page 2)
  
  
• Smoking 20 a day for a year costs £1,825. (page 5)
  
  
• Someone who starts smoking at 15 is three times more likely to die from cancer than someone who starts smoking in their mid-20s (page 5)
  
  
• Roll-up cigarettes are as toxic as ready-made cigarettes.
  (page 9)
  
  
• Using certain words or colours on cigarette packaging misleads people into thinking that these products are less harmful to their health. (page 15)
  
  
• Smoking during pregnancy restricts the essential oxygen supply to an unborn baby, forcing the baby’s heart to beat harder. (page 17)
  
  
• Smoking raises £10bn every year for the British Treasury – more than four times what the NHS spends on smoking-related illnesses. (page 19)

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Table of Contents

Chapter One: The Effects of Smoking

Tobacco, Smoking and your lungs, Smoking and your heart, Secondhand (passive) smoking, Attitudes of young smokers, Up in smoke!, Smoking ‘worse for your health than being working class’, Roll-your-own cigarettes 'as deadly as ready-mades', ‘More research’ needed into safety of electronic cigarettes, Activities.

Chapter Two: Smoking in Society

Teenage smoking: it’s my choice not yours, Cigarette pack design gives misleading signals, How successful are cigarette pack health warnings?, Social stigma prevents pregnant smokers seeking help to quit, Why are we punishing smokers?, Child tobacco pickers poisoned, reveals report, Activities.

Key facts

Glossary

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