Smoking

Smoking is the biggest single cause of premature death and preventable illness in the UK. Deaths caused by smoking amount to 106,000 a year.

Quitting smoking has both immediate and long term benefits including:

Improved breathing and general fitness
Saving money
Improved appearance of skin and teeth
Reduced risk of fire in your home

Stopping smoking increases life expectancy by:

9 years if stopped around age 40 years

6 years if stopped around age 50 years

3 years if stopped around age 60 years

Smokefree homes and cars:

Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 11,500 deaths of people in the UK every year, exposure at home may cause over 2,700 deaths every year in people aged 20 years, that is almost 8 a day.

Second hand smoke contains over 4000 chemicals including at least 69 known carcinogens. Second hand smoke is particularly harmful to children as their immune systems are less developed and they breath faster than adults meaning that they take in more chemicals per gram of body weight than an adult would in the same time.

Making your home and car smoke free will help to:

Reduce your children's risk of coughs and chest infections
Risk of cot death is greatly reduced
Reduce the risk of serious illnesses such as, asthma, meningitis and ear infections
Your home will smell fresher and cleaner
Your children will be less likely to start smoking

For more advice, information and help to quit visit: