Latest figures for youth smoking
Still too many children trying and getting addicted to a deadly product
Click here for the “Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2012” report. Regional breakdowns including figures from the North East are on p200.
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh said: “This survey reiterates that smoking in North East children needs tackling further, with the number of 11-15 year olds who have tried smoking the highest in the country at 30%- although the number who smoke regularly has now dropped down to 6 per cent.
“But with 9,000 North East children taking up smoking each year, there are still far too many children becoming addicted to this deadly product.
“We know that smoking is an addiction which nearly always starts in childhood, the age when the tobacco industry looks to recruit its new customers to replace those who have died from smoking or managed to quit. Evidence shows young people are attracted to glitzy, colourful tobacco packaging and that’s why we will continue to strongly urge the government to review its position on standardised packaging of tobacco products. This is a measure which would save lives, has high public support and evidence from Australia shows is already reducing the appeal of smoking after only a few months since standardised packaging was introduced there.
“Smoking prevalence amongst the North East population has seen a significant decline – the fastest drop in the number of adult smokers over recent years. However, tobacco remains our biggest preventable killer, with 11 deaths a day in the North East from smoking related disease.
“Quitting smoking is the best thing anyone can do to improve their health – we also need to have a comprehensive programme in place to ensure that our future generation can grown up into a world where smoking is not the norm. Smokers themselves are passionate that their own children don’t fall into a lifetime of addiction and we need urgent government action now on this. ”