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Adolescents and young adults "are considered to be those people who fall into the 10 to
24-year-old age range" and are a very significant group because they represent the future of
America (Mackenzie et al., 2018). One main health issue that involves adolescents and young
adults is the use of tobacco products. Tobacco use is one of the largely widespread, high-risk health
behaviors with young adults with 10.8% of high school students being displayed smokers in 2015
(p. 211). Tobacco habits during adolescence can hint to nicotine dependence for life ad damaging
health effects (p. 212). On the other hand, those with more education are less likely to use tobacco,
with 5% of college students in 2015 remaining tobacco users (p. 214). Many young adults are at
risk for tobacco use because they are the highest targets of tobacco companies (Abrams et al.,
2020). Early progressor smoking habits occur severely between the ages of 18-19 and late
progressors testing around the age of 18 and begin severely smoking by the age of 24. It is
proposed that "prevescalation" or preventative increase is "the missing link between youth
prevention and adult cessation" (p. 4). Smoking has many impacts on adolescents and young
adults such as dependance to nicotine, reduced lung function and growth, and early
cardiovascular damage (CDC, n.d.). Cigarette smoking can cause young adults to have shortness
of breath, which could influence their physical performance. Nicotine addiction is very
dangerous and can be difficult to break, so if is very important for parents to be proactive in
discussing the risks with their children to prevent this habit. There are many programs and
products to help those with a nicotine addiction. One product that is found to be one of the most
effective ways to help people quit smoking is nicotine. Gum or nicotine patches. These
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treatments have very small amounts of nicotine to destroy a person's urge to smoke. There are
many different brands of nicotine gum, including Equate and Nicorette, which are the most
commonly used. Investigates have found that using nicotine replacement therapy such as
nicotine gum or lozenges, in grouping with nicotine patches. increase the rate of successfully
quitting by about 25% (NIHR Evidence, 2022).
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Reference
Mackenzie, J., Pinger, R., & Seabert, D. (2018). An Introduction to Community and Public Health.
Liberty University Online. Retrieved from
https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781284129847/pageid/221
Smoking and youth - centers for disease control and prevention.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).(n.d.).
Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/50th-
anniversary/pdfs/fs_smoking_youth_508.pdf
Using both nicotine patches and gum together improves the chances of quitting smoking.
NIHR Evidence. (April 6, 2022). Retrieved May 25, 2022, from
https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/using-both-nicotine-patches-and-gum-together-improves-the-
chances-of-quitting-smoking/
Villanti, A. C., Niaura, R. S., Abrams, D. B., & Mermelstein, R. (2019).
Preventing Smoking Progression in Young Adults: the Concept of Prevescalation. Prevention
science: the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 20 (3), 377-384.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018- 0880-y
