The problem of teenage tobacco smoking: yesterday, today, tomorrow

Abstract

The global prevalence of tobacco and nicotine-containing product use has now reached epidemic proportions, a problem particularly relevant when it comes to adolescents. Major trends in the prevalence of tobacco use among adolescents include the flattening of gender differences, the decreasing age of initiation of smoking, and the emergence of alternative uses of nicotine-containing products. The main provisions of the book devoted to tobacco use prevention among children and teenagers as the problem of the present time, edited by professors N.A. Geppe, I.M. Osmanov, N.F. Gerasimenko with the participation of a large group of authors, published in 2021 by MedCom-Pro Publishing House are presented in this work. The issues of negative influence of tobacco and nicotine-containing products not only on the somatic state of teenage smokers but also on their psychological status are reflected. Health risks associated with smoking electronic cigarettes and vape cigarettes by adolescents are described, and the correlation between smoking electronic cigarettes by adolescents and the use of other psychoactive substances is noted. As an example of Russian experience of express-prevention of smoking among adolescents the program developed at the Department of Children s Diseases of Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) by candidate of medical sciences N.G. Mashukova, candidate of medical sciences, PARUS (Teenage Anti-Smoking Russian Universal Training System), gave recommendations on prevention of tobacco smoking in children and teenagers in conditions of real pediatric practice, noted that introduction into practice of anti-smoking programs aimed at development of motivation to quit smoking is the most perspective measure in prevention of tobacco smoking in teenagers today.