Counseling by Doctors Can Help Teens Quit Smoking

Proper counseling by doctors and other health experts can help teens quit smoking, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says.

The report published by USPSTF in journals 'Pediatrics' and 'Annals of Internal Medicine' claimed that children and teens were less likely to continue smoking if doctors guide them properly.

"As a pediatrician, I believe that preventing tobacco use is critical in helping young people live long, healthy lives," task force member Dr. David Grossman, said in a USPSTF news release. "The good news is that we have solid evidence that primary-care clinicians can help their young patients be tobacco free. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

The panel said over 443,000 Americans die a year due to smoking and around 90 percent of youngsters start smoking before age 18. They wrote in the report that the doctors can counsel the smoking teens through phone, personally or in family or group sessions.

Another thing doctors could do is to show the children and teens educational videos about the dangers of smoking. They can also provide them with print resources like activity guides, newsletters, workbooks and preprinted prescription forms with anti-tobacco messages.

The panelists said "even very minimal interventions," can help the youngsters stay away from smoking.

"Many of these interventions are simple, low-cost and can be implemented in primary care," task force member Susan Curry said. "Even very minimal educational and counseling interventions, such as mailing materials to a child's home, can help to keep children and teens from starting to smoke."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics showed that around 18 percent high school and four percent middle school students were smokers in 2011. Although in recent years the number of young smokers is on the decline, experts maintain that school going children should completely avoid smoking.