By DAN GRAY
Director, Kosciusko County Tobacco Free Coalition

Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate moms for who they are and all of the wonderful things they do. It is also a great time for moms to remember the important role they play in influencing the choices their kids make regarding tobacco use. Unfortunately, tobacco use among women remains a serious problem: nearly 20 million women currently smoke, an estimated 200,000 women die every year from smoking and more than 86,000 kids have already lost their mom to smoking.

Moms who smoke can celebrate Mother’s Day by quitting. And all moms, whether or not they smoke, can celebrate Mother’s Day by taking a number of effective actions to protect their kids from becoming another one of the tobacco industry’s addicted customers and victims.

Even if they smoke, what moms say, how they act and the values they communicate through their words and actions have an enormous influence on whether or not their kids smoke. All moms — smokers and nonsmokers alike — can also do a lot to protect their kids from secondhand smoke. How can moms keep their children from smoking?

As a parent, you are one of the most important persons in a child’s life, especially when it comes to cigarettes. You can make a big difference in the choices your kids make.
If you smoke, quit. If you are not successful at first, keep trying. Children from families who smoke are twice as likely to become smokers themselves; but parents who try to quit and talk to their kids about how addictive smoking is, why they want to quit and how important it is to never start can beat those odds.

• Maintain a totally smoke-free home and car (even if you smoke).
• Educate your child about the dangers of cigarette smoking.
• Talk about addiction and how hard it is to quit smoking.
• Emphasize the immediate health effects, like stress, increased blood pressure and coughing.
• Emphasize the effects of smoking on physical appearance, like face wrinkles.
• Talk to your kids about how tobacco companies target them by trying to make tobacco use seem cool so they can addict them as life-long customers.
• Listen to what your child says and does about smoking and encourage your child when he/she makes good choices.
• Ask your child about his/her friends and their attitudes toward smoking. Discuss peer pressure and how to deal with it effectively.
• Clear up any misunderstandings your child might have about smoking.
• Make sure your kids’ schools have strong and well-enforced no-smoking rules for kids and staff.
• Support federal, state and local tobacco-prevention efforts like higher tobacco taxes, funding for tobacco prevention programs and smoke-free laws.

How can you protect your child from secondhand smoke?

If you smoke, quit smoking — or at least keep trying. Call (800) QUIT-NOW for free help quitting smoking. You can also call your local Tobacco Free office for cessation help and information — (260) 571-2464, talk to your doctor or sign up for a stop-smoking course at the KCH Health & Wellness Center.

For any help or information, contact the Kosciusko County Tobacco Free Coalition office located on 1515 Provident Drive, Warsaw, or call (260) 571-2464.