Children who smoke just one cigarette are twice as likely to become steady smokers.

After trying just one cigarette, the desire-to-smoke vulnerability can lie dormant for more than three years.

You tell them not to do it. They'll get cancer. It's against the law. It's gross.

But every day about 4,400 American kids between the ages of 12 and 17 start smoking.

As adults, it's easy to rattle off a laundry list of reasons why cigarettes are bad. Assuming kids know the dangers associated with smoking, do they really comprehend them?

Before you have a talk with your child about smoking, it's important to recognize why they might start smoking, in spite of what they hear and what they know:

• Peer pressure and the desire to fit in
• Rebellion against parents, teachers, other adults
• To look cool and feel older

Teenagers are busy thinking about their date to the dance Saturday or the shoes they want at the mall. Semester finals are so far in the future they don't register. Many teens find it hard to connect the cool look of having a cigarette today with the wrinkled, dry skin and multiple health problems like heart disease and lung cancer they may face if they continue to smoke.

Instead of the long-range effects, talk about the immediate effects of smoking like yellow teeth, smelly clothing and hair, coughing, decreased athletic ability, and increased susceptibility to colds.

Ask your kids about their long-term life goals. Help them understand how valuable good physical health is to accomplishing these goals and how smoking can put a damper on their plans.

"About 4,000 U.S. children try their first cigarette each day," says Joan Felkner, director of the

Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer Information Service.  "Children who smoke just one cigarette are twice as likely to become steady smokers. After trying just one cigarette, the desire-to-smoke vulnerability can lie dormant for more than three years."

• More than 8.5 million Americans suffer from tobacco-related illnesses
• One of three youthful smokers will die from it
• 70 percent of smokers want to quit
• Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Don't be a dip 

Unfortunately, it is a common misconception that smokeless tobacco is a safe way to get a nicotine fix. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about seven percent of high school boys and three percent of junior high boys report "chewing" or "dipping."

The reality is that no tobacco is safe tobacco. Adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers. Chewing causes:

• Cracked, bleeding lips and gums
• Receding gums and loss of teeth
• Mouth and throat cancer
• Heart attacks and high blood pressure
• Nicotine addiction

Secondhand smoke 

Secondhand smoke is made up of both the smoke released from the end of a burning cigarette, pipe, or cigar and the smoke exhaled by smokers. Sometimes called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), secondhand smoke lingers in the air and is involuntarily inhaled.

Recent research indicates ETS is more dangerous than previously thought:

• No level of secondhand smoke is risk-free
• 3,400 Americans die each year from secondhand smoke-related lung cancer
• About 35,000 nonsmokers living with smokers die each year from heart disease
• Exposed children may experience increased asthma attacks, middle ear infections, and respiratory tract infections

For more information, visit the Smoking Teens.