NGO: More than a quarter of Romanian children try tobacco products before turning 10

A total of 28% of the Romanian children tend to try tobacco products before turning 10, Save the Children NGO said, arguing in favor of changing parts of the legislation that regulates tobacco products.

In Romania, 14.6% of school children aged 13 to 15 said they smoked in the past 30 days. This means that 90,699 in this age category have high chances of becoming soon daily smokers, the NGO warned. At the same time, 8.2% of school children used electronic cigarettes in the same time-frame.

“According to data from the Romanian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization, children tend to try tobacco products from a very early age, 28% of the Romanian children even before turning 10; ‘testing’ the first cigarettes can be followed, at this age, by regular consumption once nicotine addiction settles in,” the NGO said in a press release.

At the same time, 4 out of 10 children aged 13 to 15 currently purchases cigarettes by the unit, a practice forbidden more than 10 years ago, the NGO said.

“According to the 2035 No Tabaco Initiative, backed by 350 NGOs, including by Save the Children, one of the causes of tobacco consumption and its start since puberty are the minors’ easy access to tobacco products, despite the sale and free distribution ban on these products: 70.7% of children aged 13 to 15 said they purchases cigarettes from the store, namely from a legal source. Almost 80% (78.4%) of these children said they were not prevented from purchasing because of their age, and 39.9% could buy cigarettes by the piece, although this has been forbidden for more than 10 years,” the NGO said.

Save the Children argued in favor of changing the current tobacco legislation because of the high tobacco consumption and e-cigarettes use among children. This is directly related to the easy access they have to these products and exposure to advertising and promotional activities, the NGO argued. It supports a redefinition of smoking, so as to cover electronic cigarettes, ‘heated’ tobacco consumption, the smoking of plant products or similar products with high toxicity. Furthermore, the NGO supports a ban on smoking in vehicles where minors or pregnant women are present.

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