Tobacco use and exposure is the leading cause of preventable death and disease worldwide, claiming more than 7 million lives each year.
This page provides information on the Academy’s research, education, policy and advocacy initiatives related to tobacco control and prevention. This information is intended to support pediatricians, public health professionals and other key stakeholders prevent tobacco use and exposure in children and families and promote cessation in adolescents and adults who use tobacco.
Tobacco Control & Prevention Overview
Tobacco use is a pediatric disease: most adult tobacco users initiate use during adolescence; initiation is often connected to parental/peer tobacco use, exposure to tobacco imagery in movies and media, and targeted marketing of tobacco products to youth. Secondhand tobacco exposure is another critical health concern: globally, approximately half a billion children and adolescents are exposed to tobacco smoke at home.
Health disparities exist in tobacco use and exposure, and structural forces play a critical role in tobacco initiation, nicotine dependence and perpetuation of use. Pediatricians play a critical role in addressing tobacco use and exposure with children, adolescents and families.
AAP Recommendations
The AAP provides policy statements and technical reports on tobacco control that detail ways to protect children from tobacco use, nicotine dependence, e-cigarette use and tobacco smoke through public policy and clinical practice change avenues.
Research on Tobacco Control & Prevention
Learn more about the latest in pediatric tobacco control research. We’ve compiled information on research methodology, tools, funding and networks within the tobacco control field.
Professional Tools & Resources
Protecting children, adolescents and families from tobacco is a group effort. Below, you can find the information and resources you need to address tobacco control and prevention in your clinic or community.
Join the Richmond Center Email List
Receive the Richmond Center e-newsletter which includes current articles about tobacco control resources, research, policy & events and other important tobacco control announcements from the AAP.
Get Involved
These AAP groups and programs are dedicated to preventing tobacco use and exposure in children and families:
AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence
The AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence is committed to protecting children from tobacco and secondhand smoke. The Richmond Center offers tools and resources to help clinicians, communities and policymakers create healthy, smoke-free environments for children, adolescents and families. The Center is named for former US Surgeon General Dr. Julius Richmond and was established with generous support from the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute in 2006.
AAP Section on Nicotine and Tobacco Prevention and Treatment
The mission of the AAP Section on Nicotine and Tobacco Prevention and Treatment is to raise awareness about the importance of and to create support for pediatricians, other physicians and health providers in the prevention of tobacco product initiation and exposure, treatment of dependence and elimination of children's exposure to tobacco and nicotine and their emissions.
AAP Tobacco Consortium
The AAP Tobacco Consortium was founded in 2000 to drive research of pediatric tobacco prevention and cessation. The Consortium works to ensure collaboration among multidisciplinary researchers, connect early-career researchers with mentors in the field and translate knowledge gained from tobacco prevention and cessation research into practice-based intervention strategies for children, adolescents and families.
Podcasts and Voices Blogs
Learn what others are saying. Listen to our podcasts and read our blog posts.
Health Disparities in Tobacco Use - Episode 41
In this episode Susan Walley, MD, FAAP, chair of the AAP Section on Tobacco Control, highlights the new clinical report about health disparities in tobacco use and exposure.
Pediatrics on Call
|January 19, 2021
Protecting Children from the Dangers of E-cigarettes
Nicotine—regardless of its source—is highly addictive and has clear neurotoxic effects, especially on the developing brains of adolescents. Pediatricians must be vigilant and proactive in explaining the harms of all tobacco products to their patients.
Voices Blogs
|December 19, 2016
The Toll of E-cigarettes on Our Patients
Pediatricians have an important role to play to help combat the e-cigarette epidemic and the new generation of nicotine addiction in young patients.
Voices Blog
|December 30, 2019
Last Updated
06/03/2021
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics