Children are constantly subjected to peer pressure - from the time they begin school, till the time they leave college or maybe beyond, friends and acquaintances will yield significant influence over their decisions - which may sometimes cause them to take the wrong steps. The role of parenting is crucial as far as peer pressure is concerned, because if a parent instills self-esteem and confidence in a child, he would be able to say NO to his peers without any fear of ridicule. Let's teach our children the harmful effects of tobacco, and to say NO to a friend offering a cigarette.   

However, practice what you preach. Do you smoke? Perhaps it's time you quit. You say you only smoke 3-5 cigarettes a day… so that's an acceptable number. When you consider that there are those who smoke two packs a day, 5 cigarettes are fine - your body can handle it, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.  

With every cigarette you smoke, you're causing damage to your health. So if you smoke a few cigarettes a day, you'll be causing less damage to your lungs than someone who smokes a pack or two a day, but you WILL be causing damage. And by watching you smoke, you children will also get the idea that it's okay to smoke. After all, daddy smokes and if daddy can do it, so can I. Some role model you turned out to be, huh? And if you stick to those 4 a day and feel your health is fine - when your kids start smoking they might not be so particular, and those 4 cigarettes a day could turn into 40. Scary, isn't it? If you're still having second thoughts about quitting, it always helps to make an informed decision rather than an ignorant one. So if you choose to smoke, make your choice an informed one. Here's the lowdown of the fag.  

Every cigarette you smoke reduces your lifespan by 11 minutes. The earlier calculation estimated 5 minutes, but with the life-span of non-smokers increasing, this figure has grown to 11 minutes.  

A non-cigarette smoker will live a healthier life, subject to fewer diseases.

Take a look at just some of the 4000 chemicals that are in a cigarette.  

• Formaldehyde - used to preserve dead bodies 
• Lead 
• Mercury 
• Benzene - used in dyes 
• Cadmium - used to make batteries 
• Nicotine - the chemical that gives you a 'hit' and makes cigarettes addictive 
• Tar - transports other chemicals to your bloodstream, gets deposited in your lungs and stains your teeth.  
• Acetone - used in nailpolish remover 
• Carbon Monoxide - hardens the arteries and causes heart problems 

By smoking, not only are you harming yourself, but you are harming others around you by producing secondhand smoke, which will be inhaled by those around you.  

However, if you have been smoking for many years and suddenly quit, don't expect yourself you bounce back into the pink of health. That's not going to happen. The nicotine would have already caused substantial and possibly irreversable damage to your body and your lungs, so have realistic expectations. But this doesn't mean that quitting won't have any benefits at all. It's never to late to quit and no matter when you quit, your body will thank you for it. You will notice:

• An improvement in your sense of smell 
• An improvement in your sense of taste 
• Your breath will smell cleaner and fresher 
• Blood circulation will pick up 
• Risk of contracting cancer and heart disease will improve