Gelisim News

Smoke of tobacco products claims lives of 1 million each year

Green Crescent Week is celebrated between 1-7 March every year to increase social awareness against addiction. Public Health Specialist Dr. Nurten Elkin, a Faculty Member at Istanbul Gelisim University, stated that addictions are one of the important public health problems that concern all segments of society.

MANY FACTORS ARE IMPORTANT IN ADDICTION

Faculty Member Dr. Nurten Elkin said, “Addiction is a scene formed by many factors coming together; negative parental attitudes exhibited during raising of children, having a history of addiction in any of the family members, wrong friend choices, low academic achievement, and the society's perspective on addiction can be counted as just a few of the factors that may pose a risk. It is our priority to provide preventive health services especially in child and adolescent health; it should be our main goal that young people never drop into such habits. In this context, importance should be attached to family, school and public education, and also necessary counseling should be given to families, especially in Family Health Centers where primary health care services are provided.”
 
APPROXIMATELY 700 MILLION CHILDREN ARE EXPOSED TO CIGARETTE SMOKE WORLDWIDE

According to the latest data from the World Health Organization; more than 7 million people in the world and approximately 100 thousand people in our country die from diseases related to use of tobacco products every year. One of the most important problems in this regard is the effects on people who do not use tobacco products. Approximately 700 million children in the world are exposed to cigarette smoke, and approximately 1 million people die every year not because of using tobacco products, but because they are exposed to tobacco smoke. Passive exposure to cigarette smoke is dangerous for society; it can lead to serious consequences, especially in children.
 
WHICH PARENTAL ATTITUDES UNDERLIE ADDICTION?

Parental attitudes that are unable to set boundaries, oppressive, parents who do not know where and with whom their children are and what they do, parents who set too many limits but put too much pressure on them… So both extremes are actually harmful in terms of addiction. The child needs to know the limits, to know what he is doing and why. But in some cases, boundaries need to be stretched.