Doctors may be missing chances to talk to teens about smoking

Less than a third of teens say their doctors have spoken to them about tobacco use, according to a new study.

“Given that tobacco is still the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the US, it is surprising that more clinicians are not intervening with adolescent patients to help them avoid or quit tobacco,” says lead author Gillian L Schauer, of Carter Consulting, Inc. Schauer worked on the study as a contractor to the Office on Smoking and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her colleagues write in the journal Pediatrics that most current smokers started as teenagers or young adults.