Buy cigarettes by the single pack only and not by the carton. Avoid sweets and other fattening foods. Weight gain can be a problem for some smokers who are quitting. Tobacco related illness, including pipe and spit tobacco, is the most preventable cause of death. Half of the adolescents, whether boys or girls, who start smoking and smoke throughout their lives will be killed by tobacco.
Tobacco is a health risk to unborn babies of mothers who smoke.
It increases the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight, complications during pregnancy, and the likelihood of health problems during infancy and childhood. Smoking is the cause of about 30 percent of all cancers and 80 to 90 percent of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death for men and has just surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of death for women. Smokers have two times greater risk of dying of heart attacks and three times greater risk of dying of strokes than nonsmokers. Smokers are more likely to catch pneumonia, colds, bronchitis, and sinus infections more often and have greater difficulty recovering than nonsmokers.