The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a recommendation seeking to involve primary care providers in "simple, economical, and effective interventions" to help prevent smoking and tobacco use among children and teens.
These so-called interventions include mailing information packets to houses and 15 hours of group counseling.
Virginia Moyer, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who wrote on behalf of the USPSTF studied the new evidence that primary care interventions can effectively reduce the number of children who would like to try smoking and increase the number of those quitting. It is also a good move in keeping these children healthy.
The new evidence "has shown that primary care providers can provide simple, economical, and effective interventions to help prevent tobacco use among children and teens," Moyer wrote in a special article in the Pediatrics. "Although most serious and life-threatening effects from smoking show up in adults, it is important for children and adolescents to understand that young smokers can suffer from impaired lung growth, early onset of lung deterioration, and respiratory and asthma-related symptoms.""
A previous study gave good news that the tobacco use rates are continuously declining from 2000 to 2011. However, another study revealed that 8.2 percent of middle school students and 23.9 percent in high school admitted that they were smoking tobacco products.
Aside from the mailing and counseling interventions, another recommendation include implementing a "no smoking" policy in the office and a parent-child weekly counseling which will run for seven weeks spending up to 2.5 hours per session.
According to the USPSTF, the counseling and information campaign will focus on topics such as introduction to smoking, its consequences, social influences, tobacco marketing awareness, tips to quit the habit, parental attitudes and beliefs, and parent-child communication.
"Even very minimal interventions... had substantial effects on reducing smoking initiation," according to the update.
