If you play sports, smoking will damage your performance, leaving you short of breath and more vulnerable to heart and lung problems. Smoking can wreck lungs and reduce oxygen available for muscles used during sports. Smokers run slower and can't run as far, affecting overall athletic performance. Cigars and spit tobacco are NOT safe alternatives. Inc. Return to Top Smoking and Your Health Adult Smoking Smoking is even more serious for adults.
Adults already run a greater risk of cancer, heart attack, stroke and lung disease than youths.
Smoking adds to that risk greatly. If you know an adult or parent who smokes, show them you care about them and encourage them not to smoke. Children whose mothers smoke have an estimated 70 percent more respiratory problems, including bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as ear infections, the report said. For children whose fathers smoke, the health risk is 30 percent higher, it said. It will take your relatives, parents and adult friends away from you an average of seven years earlier than if they were nonsmokers.