World Anti-Tobacco Day - May 31
Theme: “Protect the Environment”According to Tobacco Induced Diseases Journal, 4.7 million adults use a tobacco product and 3.9% (3.1 million) adults are current tobacco smokers. And of greater concern is tobacco smoking by children and adolescents where 25000 Nigerian children (aged 10–14 years) smoke cigarettes each day. No matter how small the use, tobacco leads to diseases and harms nearly all organs in the body. Tobacco use is the leading cause of non-communicable diseases and death.
The greatest users of tobacco are males between the age of 15 – 34 years. For most teens, the factors that influence that tobacco use are:
Peer influence
Accessibility, availability of tobacco
Low-self esteem
Poor parental support.
The Negative effects of tobacco consumption:
It contains acetone, tars, nicotine, and carbon monoxide which affect the lungs when inhaled.
It affects the body’s ability to absorb nutrients such as calcium, Vitamin C and D
It suppresses appetite due to its effects on the brain and central nervous system.
It affects blood circulation in the body by causing blood vessels to narrow and blocked.
It alters and suppresses taste flavors.
It causes sexual distortion such as the inability to conceive, erectile dysfunction, reduced fertility, etc.
Sequel to this, it is important to raise awareness about the harmful effect of tobacco use and how it pollutes the environment.
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