Just one cigarette as a child is enough to spark teen addiction
THE urge to start smoking can lie dormant for several years, even if a child has just one cigarette at a young age, a new study warns.
Researchers found a lasting predisposition to smoking - or "sleeper effect" - among children who had smoked just a single cigarette at the age of 11.
They were twice as likely to go on to be regular smokers compared with those who never smoked, even after a gap of three years or more.
Campaigners said the findings made it even more important to focus on preventing young people from smoking at all, even if it was just a one-off experiment by a curious child.
The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, tracked 2,000 schoolchildren from the age of 11 to 16, asking about their smoking behaviour and measuring their nicotine intake from saliva tests.
Of the 260 children who, at the age of 11, said they had tried smoking just once, 18 per cent were smokers by age 14. This compared with 7 per cent of those who had never experimented with smoking.
Jennifer Fidler, of Cancer Research UK's health behaviour unit at University College London and lead researcher in the study, said: "We know that progression from experimenting with one cigarette to being a smoker can take several years.
"But, for the first time, we've shown that there may be a period of dormancy between trying cigarettes and becoming a regular smoker - a 'sleeper effect' or vulnerability to nicotine addiction."
The researchers said there were several possible explanations for this "sleeper effect". They said that pathways in the brain may become changed as a result of a single exposure to nicotine, increasing vulnerability to smoking triggers, such as stress, depression or the school environment, at a later date.
The researchers also suggested that experimenting with a cigarette may break down the barriers that would otherwise prevent teenagers from taking up smoking, such as insecurities about how to smoke and fear of being caught by adults.
Ms Fidler added: "The results indicate that prior experimentation is a strong predictor of taking up smoking later.
"And the finding of a 'sleeper effect' suggests that healthcare providers designing targeted campaigns should focus on young teenagers who report having tried cigarettes in the past."
In Scotland, figures show that about 9 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls aged 13 to 15 are regular smokers.
Jean King, the director of tobacco control at Cancer Research UK, said: "Smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK.
"And we know that there's a 'hard-to-reach' group of young smokers that anti-smoking campaigns are failing to connect with.
"Any research that helps unravel the processes involved in young people becoming addicted to nicotine is key to developing effective and targeted ways to prevent them from starting smoking in the first place."
Maureen Moore, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health Scotland, said: "In Scotland, 6 per cent of 13-year-olds, and 19 per cent of 15-year-olds, are regular smokers.
"The health risks of smoking are even higher for young people whose lungs are still developing.
"Many adult smokers become addicted to nicotine in their teenage years, and most regret ever having started to smoke."
Ms Moore said that education and prevention initiatives for young people needed to involve schools, parents, retailers and the wider community.
"We should be doing everything in our power to help prevent people establishing nicotine addiction at a very young age," she said.
