A Smoke Free Family, UK

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 03 Mar 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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It affects everyone around you but most of all, smoking has the biggest impact on your own health. Today's teenagers and children seem more aware than their parents of the increased risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and other health problems that smoking brings and many worry about their parents. National No Smoking Day on 11 March is the perfect opportunity for you to quit smoking and help your family become smoke-free.

- Get ready - clear out and bin the ash trays, clean the house and soft-furnishings to get rid of the chemicals and the tobacco smell.

- As your taste buds and sense of smell re-awaken, you will enjoy food better, so go for colourful fruit and vegetables and healthy snacks to give your body, skin and arteries a vitamin, mineral and antioxidant boost.

- With the money you save, plan a trip or holiday for the whole family to celebrate your achievement.

- Make quitting a family affair - get the support and encouragement of your loved ones to overcome the cravings and initial frustrations. Remind yourself how much their health is gaining from no more passive smoking.

- You are four times more likely to succeed with the help of health professionals, so contact your local NHS Stop Smoking Service. Visit http://www.smokefree.nhs.uk or call 0800 0224332 for friendly help and advice.

It can be done: one-fifth of people in England are ex-smokers, so spring clean your home and body, ditch the burden of tobacco chemicals that's weighing you and your family down. Get the whole family involved in helping you to make your home and your hearts smoke-free.

Heart Research UK