REPLY1
The smoking habit has become very popular among teenagers causing them to suffer from its short- and long-term effects. If cigarette smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of todays Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness. Thats about 1 of every 13 Americans aged 17 years or younger who are alive today (Youth and tobacco use, 2020). For that reason, there is a need for public health entities to address the matter in our communities. In order to decide what is the best course of action for the matter, public health entities need to conduct some research and gather some data. As a research question, I would propose What are the main factors influencing teenagers to initiate and maintain the smoking habit?”. I would use a qualitative study on the teenage population for this study, to be more specific I would do an anonymous survey with multiple choice questions, using questions that are easy to understand by teenagers. In order to decrease the incidence of teenagers public health professionals should analyze the factors that made the teenagers to smoke for the first time, what were the ways used to obtain the cigarettes and conduct teaching sessions with the teenagers showing them the risks of smoking as well as the most updated statistics on the matter. Also, in order to prevent the smoking habits and decrease its incidence in teenagers, there is of great importance to involve parents and family members.
REPLY2
Smokers’ rate among Los Angeles adolescents and students keeps rising during the last decades. Besides, electronic cigarette consumption in overall product use increased from 9% up to 13.7% in 2014. (Barrington-Trimis et al. 2016, p. e20153983) For this reason, the issue of e-cigarettes smoking by teenagers cannot be put aside and calls for further inquiry. Within the research framework, it is necessary to determine whether e-cigarettes merely replace cigarettes or increase overall tobacco consumption by adolescents.
A cohort study in the local community schools must be conducted to trace tobacco and e-cigarettes prevalence rates among the target group. School nurses will spread a questionnaire among senior pupils to fill in. It will contain questions about students’ smoking status, family smoking history, and respiratory diseases. Before filling in, the respondents will be explained the purpose of the study and give their prior consent. The cohort study results can be used for designing a study to reduce the smoking incidence among adolescents. They will be provided with printed informative materials about nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, promotion of non-smoking behavioral patterns, and smoking cessation programs. (Barrington-Trimis et al. 2016, p. e20153983) Besides, they are offered to participate in a random screening study to check their lungs’ current state and possible negative consequences of smoking.