Smokers tend to pick up the habit earlier rather than later in life. Fortunately, getting ahold of cigarettes has become tougher and fewer teens are lighting up these days.

Smoking is linked to many more health problems than bad breath and lung cancer. The key to preventing the health issues is to prevent children and teens from starting to smoke in the first place.

When a person smokes, those immediately around that person are forced to "smoke" also. If people around the smoker have asthma, the smoke can make their condition worse.

"Do as I say, not as I do," may be an attractive saying for parents, but it may not work very well. When it comes to smoking in particular, children often follow their parents' examples.

They say where there's smoke, there's fire. But even if there's not smoke, there could still be a problem — when you're talking about tobacco and kids, that is.

Giving a child the best shot at a healthy life starts with a healthy pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy may do more than just physical harm to the baby — behavioral problems may surface years later in the child.

Some babies may be more likely than others to develop respiratory infections. This is especially true of babies prone to allergies. Secondhand smoke can make the situation worse.

Parents may feel that what they say to their kids goes in one ear and out the other. But parents may have more influence than they think when it comes to talking with their teens about alcohol and drug use.

Movie characters haven’t been smoking on the silver screen nearly as much as they used to. They have been drinking beer though, and more and more of it every year.

Secondhand smoke exposure during childhood may change cholesterol levels in a way that could increase the risk for heart disease later in life. That risk may not be the same for both genders.