Mothers who smoke and breast-feed their babies pass nicotine to their children through breast milk. Additionally, infants are more likely to develop colds, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases if secondhand smoke is present in the home or day care center. The sales and advertising drive for women's cigarettes in the late 1960's and early 1970's coincided with sharp increases in the number of girls, aged 12-17 who began smoking. Teenage girls often start to smoke to avoid weight gain. They also seek to identify themselves as independent and glamorous, which reflect images projected by tobacco ads.
Social images can convince teens that being slightly overweight is worse than smoking.
Cigarette advertising portrays cigarettes as causing slimness and implies that cigarette smoking suppresses appetite. In 1997, 34.7 percent of high school girls were current smokers, meaning they smoked at least once in the 30 days preceding the survey. In addition, 15.7 percent were frequent smokers, indicating that they smoked on 20 or more of the 30 days before the survey was taken. Since the 1920's, the tobacco industry has targeted women with images ranging from liberation, glamour, slimness, and feminism. Women join smoking cessation groups more often than men for social support, but they are somewhat less successful than men in quitting smoking.