Hookah: The New Cigarette

While smoking has become less appealing to teens, hookah seems to be taking its place. It may not be a cigarette, but parents still need to be concerned on several levels if their teen is frequently partaking in hookah.

Recently, a study was conducted by Monitoring the Future. The results were published in the Pediatrics journal. The study looked at the behaviors, values, and attitudes of 15,000 graduating seniors across the country. This is actually an ongoing study that updates every year with data from new students.

When evaluating the data, researchers looked at responses from more than 5,000 of the students that were asked about hookah use. Surprisingly, roughly 20 percent of the students had admitted to using hookah over the past 12 months. Another disturbing link they found was the connection between students using hookah to those using alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other illegal substances.

It would also appear the use of all of these products is still running rampant more so in educated, wealthy children than it is in other socioeconomic classes. One of the researchers in the study, Joseph J. Palamar, stated, “Surprisingly, students with more educated parents or higher personal income area at a high risk for use. We also found that hookah use is more common in cities, especially big cities. So, hookah use is much different from cigarette use, which is more common in non-urban areas.”

So, why are kids flocking to hookah and what are the dangers?

Cigarettes are cigarettes… there is no real lure other than the “cool” factor. Hookah, however, comes in a variety of flavors as well as being smoked in a rather interesting device. In many cases, smoking hookah is also a group event. It is actually a form of socializing for many of the people that use it. All of these factors make it much more appealing to teens than smoking cigarettes.

However, it is still tobacco, and all of the dangers to your general health and oral heath are still present. Heart disease, gum disease, stained teeth, etc… are all still dangers of smoking hookah. In addition, because these devices are often shared, teens are also susceptible to transferable infections from the other users.

If your teen is smoking hookah, we would recommend and immediate checkup with both the primary care physician and dentist. If you are looking for ways to offset the high costs of dental care, our New Hampshire family discount dental plan can save you significant money on dental bills. For more information, click here.