If a person started smoking in childhood, then the chances that he will give up this bad habit in adulthood decrease. The corresponding conclusions are contained in the work of American scientists, the conclusions from which were published in the journal JAHA.
The study involved more than 6.6 thousand volunteers from the United States, Australia and Finland, who have been monitored since 1970. During the experiment, its participants reached the age of 20-40, thanks to which the specialists were able to assess the influence of tobacco use in childhood on the formation of bad habits in adulthood.
It turned out that only 2% of the subjects, of those who tried smoking at age 20 or later, continued to smoke by age 40. At the same time, those who became addicted to cigarettes at the age of 6 to 12 years, in 50% of cases, continued to smoke in adulthood. This pattern, according to scientists, is also typical for those who tried tobacco several times in childhood.
Professor of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis (USA) David Jacobs notes that the results of the experiment are a good argument in favor of the governments of those countries that limit the sale of cigarettes to persons under 21 years of age.
In turn, a narcologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of St. Petersburg State University Alexei Egorov said that a predisposition to any addiction, including smoking, can be inherited. This, he said, is due to the psychological type of personality, depending on heredity, as well as other, more complex factors.