Tobacco Control and Prevention

Tobacco Control & Prevention Overview

Tobacco use is a pediatric disease: most adult tobacco users initiate use during adolescence; initiation is often connected to parental/peer tobacco use, exposure to tobacco imagery in movies and media, and targeted marketing of tobacco products to youth. Secondhand tobacco exposure is another critical health concern: globally, approximately half a billion children and adolescents are exposed to tobacco smoke at home. 

Health disparities exist in tobacco use and exposure, and structural forces play a critical role in tobacco initiation, nicotine dependence and perpetuation of use. Pediatricians play a critical role in addressing tobacco use and exposure with children, adolescents and families. 

References to “tobacco” throughout this resource are intended to include all commercial tobacco and nicotine products, including (but not limited to) combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and heated tobacco products. When we reference tobacco, we are referring to commercial tobacco, and not to the sacred and traditional use of tobacco by some Native American communities.

Youth Tobacco and Nicotine Cessation

Tobacco use by adolescents and young adults is an immediate health concern. Youth who use tobacco products are beginning a trajectory of nicotine dependence that often continues into adulthood. They are also uniquely vulnerable to nicotine dependence because their brains are still developing, according to a 2014 Surgeon General’s report. Data has shown that nicotine addiction progresses faster in youth than it does in adults; youth may become dependent on nicotine prior to daily use.  

Education for Clinicians