Review article http://dx.doi.org/10.3345/kjp.2011.54.10.401 Korean J Pediatr 2011;54(10):401-404 Smoking and adolescent health Sang-hee Park, MD Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea With the Westernization and opening of our society, adolescents’ smoking is increasing and being popularized. Many adolescents start smoking at an early age out of curiosity and venturesomeness, and earlier start of smoking makes it more difficult to quit smoking. Adolescents’ habitual smoking not only becomes a gateway to all kinds of substance abuse but also causes various health problems including upper respiratory infection, immature lung development, reduced maximum vital capacity, and lung cancer. Therefore, it is quite important to prevent adolescents from smoking. The lowering of adolescents’ smoking rate cannot be achieved only through social restrictions such as stereotyped education on the harms of smoking and ID checking. In order to lower adolescents’ smoking rate substantially, each area of society should develop standardized programs and make related efforts. As adolescents’ smoking is highly influenced by home environment or school life, it is necessary to make efforts in effective education and social reinforcement in school, to establish related norms, and to execute preventive education using peer groups. When these efforts are spread throughout society in cooperation with homes and communities, they will be helpful to protect adolescents’ health and improve their quality of life. Received: 6 September 2011, Accepted: 12 October 2011 Corresponding author: Sang Hee Park, MD Department of Pediatrics, Korea Universty College of Medi- cine, 126-1 Anam-dong 5-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea Tel: +82-2-920-5090, Fax: +82-2-922-7476 E-mail: shpark@kumc.or.kr Copyright © 2011 by The Korean Pediatric Society Key words: Smoking, Adolescent, Health, Korea This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Adolescence is the transitional period from infancy to adulthood, in which a person experiences rapid physical growth, along with mental and social growth and development. During the early period of adolescence, the ability for abstract thinking, distinguished from concrete thinking, begins to increase gradually when solving problems or making decisions. In the middle stage of adolescence, the person reaches the peak of puberty, beginning to keep a distance from parents and trying to be independent in order to attain autonomy; friends play a central role in this process. Once the late period of adolescence is reached, abilities in abstract thinking develop fully, and as a result, the person thinks about his/her future roles and plans. 401 While undergoing these processes, adolescents achieve physical, mental, and social growth, and along with physical changes, ex- perience rapid sociocultural changes. Over the course of adolescence, individuals establish their value systems and secure a social status associated with being an adult. Most people experience these processes and changes without much trouble; however, some fail to adjust to a rapidly changing social life and associate with friends, becoming easily exposed to cigarettes or alcohol. This can potentially lead to drug addiction or other delinquencies.