Each day, approximately 1,000 American teens begin to smoke. Now a new study in next month's issue of Pediatrics, finds that doctors who talked to their adolescent patients about the dangers of smoking had a positive impact on the teens' attitudes towards tobacco use and in many cases influenced them to quit.
Investigators looked at more than 5,100 students. They found among current smokers, those teens who spoke to their physicians were more likely to plan to quit smoking within six months of the conversation, than those who did not talk to their doctors. And furthermore, those teenagers who were examined by a physician were more likely to try to quit, more than those who never saw a doctor.
Researchers concluded their results showed the value and benefits of physicians talking to young people about the dangers of smoking and tobacco use.
For today's Health Miniute, I’m Ninette Sosa.
