LETTER: Hard to break teenage habit is hard to break

WE READ with disappointment Liz Bestic's report "Smoking knackers your boat race" (Sunday Review, 9 April). The report criticises the Health Education Authority's teenage-smoking work, but did not give us an opportunity to comment. As a result, it presents an over-simplistic view of the complex problem of teenage smoking and misrepresents the HEA's activities.

We agree with Peter McCabe of Quit when he says dire warnings about bad breath, smelly hair, infertility and so on will be far more effective with teenagers than the "I told you so" approach. That is why the HEA has never taken this approach since launching its teenage work in 1989.

In addition, while we would welcome Quit's "Slave No More" pack, we also know that a range of different measures must be adopted to tackle teenage smoking. The HEA teenage-smoking work includes publicity and advertising campaigns, work in schools, such as encouraging smoke-free policies, support for local projects, and the reduction of illegal sales of cigarettes to children.

We also address the critical influence that adult smoking has on the chances of a child becoming a regular smoker. It is worth noting that we have been able to demonstrate through research that our work has reached teenage smokers and has affected them.

The adult smoking rate in this country is falling but the same is not true of teenage smoking. It is important to recognise the difficulties in changing such a well-established part of teenage behaviour.

Dr Ann McNeill

National Smoking Education Campaign

Health Education Authority

London WC1