Smoking injures lung tissue. Tissue damage from smoking can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is sometimes called emphysema.

With COPD, the airways and air sacs lose their elasticity and the walls between many of the air sacs are destroyed. The walls of the airways also become inflamed and swollen and more mucous is formed. As a result it becomes very difficult to get air in and out of the lungs. Because these changes happen slowly over a number of years, a person may not notice the changes until it’s too late.

Heart disease and stroke are cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) diseases caused by smoking. Heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States. Most cases of these diseases are caused by atherosclerosis, a hardening and narrowing of the arteries. Smoking speeds up this process, even in young smokers. Cigarette smoke damages the cells lining the blood vessels and heart, causing swelling that prevents the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. Smoking also increases a person’s risk of dangerous blood clots, which can also cause a heart attack or stroke.

Fortunately, risks for heart disease and stroke decrease steadily after a person quits. One year after a person quits, their risk for a heart attack drops sharply. Two to five years after quitting, their risk for stroke falls to about the same as a nonsmoker’s.

Smoking injures lung tissue and affects the lungs’ ability to fight infections. Tissue damage from smoking can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is sometimes called emphysema. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 90 percent deaths from COPD are caused by smoking.

Smoking also can cause other respiratory diseases, such as chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to have upper and lower respiratory tract infections, perhaps because smoking suppresses immune function. Smokers’ lung function also declines more quickly than that of nonsmokers.

Smoking causes many chronic diseases, such as lung cancer and many other forms of cancer; heart disease; and respiratory diseases, including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and pneumonia. Each year in the United States, about 440,000 people die as a result of smoking. This is about one in every five deaths.

Overall, smokers are less healthy than nonsmokers. Smoking affects the immune system, which increases a person’s risk for infections. Smoking also increases the risk for fractures, dental diseases, sexual problems, eye diseases, and peptic ulcers.

When people quit smoking, their bodies begin to recover, and their risk for smoking-related diseases decreases over time. Although people who smoke will never be as healthy as they would have been had they never smoked at all, risks continue to decrease the longer they stay smoke free.

You smoke, you choke.

Three out of four teens who are daily smokers say they keep smoking because it’s really hard to quit. Why be hooked on nicotine when you can be hooked on sports? Aren’t you already hooked on breathing?

Have youth hold their breath for 45 seconds.

• After 30 seconds, they will feel how a smoker feels after running the length of a soccer field.
• After 40 seconds, they will feel how a smoker feels after running twice the length of the soccer field

Many high-profile athletes, coaches, agencies, and organizations joined CDC’s tobacco-free sports movement.

Agencies and organizations that support tobacco-free sports include CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), National Cancer Institute, National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, National SAFE KIDS Campaign, International Olympic Committee, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and many other sports leagues and youth organizations.

Because of this strong support, the tobacco-free sports movement is gaining momentum in many different sports arenas.

• In 2001, the Smoke-Free Soccer program went global when CDC teamed up with WHO and FIFA to promote worldwide tobacco-free messages. Women and men soccer stars and other athletes from the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, and Canada appeared in posters to show their support for the program.
• The tobacco-free Olympic tradition continued in Torino, Italy (2006) and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The 2010 Vancouver Games also was tobacco-free!

CDC welcomes your participation in the effort to promote sports participation as a healthy and positive alternative to tobacco use.

If current youth tobacco use trends continue, 6.4 million of today’s young people will die from tobacco-related diseases. Nearly all first-time tobacco use occurs before high school graduation. This suggests that if kept tobacco-free, most youth will never start using tobacco.

Youth sports continue to be popular in the United States. Sports activities, therefore, present great opportunities to reach young people. Young athletes learn to make important health decisions related to tobacco use, physical activity, and good nutrition while on a sports team.