Women's and Children's Health Network Smoking and its effects Kids' Health Topic Why people start to smoke Most smokers start smoking when they are teenagers. In the 'olden days' when your parents and grandparents were teenagers, people started smoking because: their friends smoked. they thought smoking was the 'grown up' thing to do. their heroes smoked, including many sports stars. tobacco advertising in films, magazines, TV, sports and posters showed smoking as being cool, sexy, smart, tough and the adult thing to do. smoking was allowed in public places everywhere. people could buy cigarettes in smaller packets of 5 or 10 . most people didn't know that smoking was bad for their health and for the health of people who were around smokers. Why people continue smoking People who continue smoking give different reasons for smoking. "It keeps me alert when I have a lot of work to do." "It helps me to concentrate." "It keeps me calm when I am under pressure." "It makes me feel relaxed." As soon as people become regular smokers they become addicted to the nicotine in the cigarettes which makes them want to continue smoking. There are many different chemicals in cigarette smoke some of which are poisonous and some can cause cancer. Some of these chemicals affect the brain making the person feel alert or calm - in other words changing the person's mood. The more people smoke, the more they feel the need to smoke. The bad news for smokers People who smoke have to put up with a lot of bad things to continue their smoking. Their hair, clothes and breath smell of stale smoke. Teeth and fingers go yellow. Skin looks unhealthy and grey. Their sense of smell and taste are affected.