The number of teenage smokers has fallen by seven percentage points in three years, after the legal age limit for smoking was raised from 16 to 18, the latest research shows.
A new study by Cancer Research UK published in the journal Addiction, carried out a survey on 16 and 17 year olds before and after the legal age limit was raised in 2007.
The findings revealed that 24 per cent of 16 to 17 year olds smoked when the legal age limit was 16, but this figure fell to 17 per cent after the age was raised to 18.
According to researchers, the findings show the importance of working with young people to help them quit smoking.
Dr Jenny Fidler, lead author based at Cancer Research UK’s health behaviour research centre at UCL, said: “The new law looks to have helped reduce smoking prevalence among younger age groups. This is good news for the future health of this generation of young people and shows that tobacco policies can make a real difference.”
According to Cancer Research UK, eight out of 10 smokers start before they reach 19 and half of all long-term smokers die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases.
Jean King, Cancer Research UK’s director of tobacco control, said: We would like to have seen an even bigger drop in the number of young smokers but any measure that helps stops young people from smoking is a step in the right direction. “We need to do more to protect young people.
