No Proven Programs to Help Teens Quit Smoking, Review Finds

No Proven Programs to Help Teens Quit Smoking, Review Finds:

A large new review of studies on teen-age smoking finds there is no solid evidence about how to help adolescents kick the habit once they have started.

Because one-third of smokers take their first cigarette at age 14 and almost 90 percent before age 21, most previous studies of youth tobacco use have concentrated on prevention, not cessation.

“There is not yet sufficient evidence to test the effectiveness of smoking-cessation programs for adolescents, although some approaches show promise,” according to review authors led by Gill Grimshaw at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.