Teen Smoking: What Influences Teens to/not to Smoke? BY: Akua Bediako & Nathali Rodriguez Mentor : Andrea R. Adams, MPA Queens Hospital Center

INTRODUCTION Smoking has become a very common habit for teens over the years. Teens have become a specific target for tobacco companies and peer pressure. Thus, the goal of our project is to find out : Smoking has become a very common habit for teens over the years. Teens have become a specific target for tobacco companies and peer pressure. Thus, the goal of our project is to find out :  the main influence of teenage smokers  the long term effects of becoming a teen smoker

MATERIALS  Survey  Reward  Clipboard with attached pens  Calculator  Microsoft program for graphs

PROCEDURE  Encouraged teens to fill out our surveys  Upon completing the survey, we handed the participants a reward.  We merged and calculated the responses to the survey questions and formed a master copy.  Using our results, we formulated graphs

PARTICIPANT STATISTICS  Total number of teens who completed the survey = 86  The teens ages ranged from years  The number that did not smoke= 83  The number of those who smoke= 3  Of those surveyed:  Males= 30  Females= 56

SURVEY SAMPLE SURVEY SAMPLE

MEDIA IMPACT RESULTS

FAMILY& FRIENDS IMPACT RESULTS

SECOND PART: Long term effects of smoking

WHAT’S IN A CIGARETTE?

EFFECTS OF LONG TERM SMOKING  Respiratory problems  Heart disease  Aneurysms  Bronchitis  Emphysema  Stroke  Addiction to Nicotine  Cancer  Lung Cancer  Leukemia  Throat cancer

CONCLUSION  We found out that teens are more impacted by the media. The effects of teenage smoking can result in major health problems as the person progresses in age. Lastly, we found out that smoking is a deciding factor when it comes to relationships, such as dating.

FUTURE GOALS  In our future research, we hope to find out if any influential factors outweigh others such as body image, peer pressure and media.

REFERENCES  “Health Effects of Smoking Among Young People”. Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS). August CDC. 14 August  Sorise, Kim. “Selling Tobacco Products to Kids”. Tobacco. 31 May WFPL 89.3 FM. 14 August  “The Toll of Tobacco in New York” TobaccoFreeKids.org Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.12 August  “Non-Smoker Vs. Smoker’s Lung”. Tobacco. 10 June 2004.Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services.23 August  “What’s In That Cigarette?” The New York State Smokers’ Quitsite. The New York State Smokers’ Quitline. 11 August tiscig tiscighttp:// tiscig  Benjamin, Helene. Personal Interview. 11 August  Mr. L. Personal Interview. 14 August 2006.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  Andrea R. Adams  Queens Hospital Center  Helene Benjamin  Mr. L (interviewed patient)  Belynda Rivers  Dr. Sat Bhattacharya  Harlem Children Society  Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center