Adults:
There is currently an estimate of 10 million adults who smoke cigarettes in the UK, which is a sixth of Great Britain's total population. 21% of these are men and 20% of these are also women. Amongst Women smoking is at the highest peak between 20-24 year olds, in comparison to men smoking is at the highest level between the ages of 25-34 year olds.
However 22% of women and 28% of men are now ex-smokers and still many smokers are now fighting the urge and willing to stop.
Roughly half of casual everyday smokers will suffer from death eventually due to their irresistible addiction. Every year over 100,000 smokers die in the UK from cigarettes because of the smoking related diseases, such as throat cancer, lung cancer and so on.
Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds which put the body under great risk of illnesses
Young People:
2/3 of smokers start before the age of 18, in the UK around 150,000 smokers are children aged between 11-15 and are regular smokers. Remember it is always ILLEGAL to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.
In England 20% of the overall population smoke.
In Scotland 25% of the overall population smoke.
In Wales 25& of the overall population smoke.
Smoking rates in research have come out to prove that it is always higher in poor people.
Last year the government earned £10.6 billion in revenue from tobacco tax.
Conclusion:
Smoking causes around 86% of people to die from severe lung cancer and heart disease. People who smoke between 1-14 cigarettes a day have eight times the risk of dying compared from normal people.
So the advice is not to smoke or to be around others which do, due to second hand smoking also having the risk of getting lung cancer and other forms of diseases, So... STOP SMOKINGGGGGGGG!
For those who wish to stop smoking, you can seek medical help from charities such as the BHF (British Heart Foundation) and also NHS which isn't a charity (awkward)... *wind blows*
Health:
Staying healthy and keeping fit is an essential part of life and is very important to survive, regular physical activity can prevent and reduce the risk of the human body from becoming ill and facing coronary heart disease, obesity, diabetes and mental problems.
Adults should aim to complete 150hrs of exercise in a week. It is recommended that children over the age of 5 should engage with physical sport and exercise for at least 1hr.
Physical activity is currently low in the UK, only 40% of men and 28% of women have met the minimum requirements of keeping active.
In Scotland 72% of women and 59% of men are not active enough and have resulted in CHD (coronary heart disease) more than obesity.
this clearly shows that staying in one spot and not moving around is unhealthy for you and affects you in a very bad way, therefore staying active, going to the gym and eating a healthy balanced diet all go towards your own benefit.
In Wales the average inactivity is said to be one of the highest in the UK as 36% of men and 22% of women meet the minimum levels.
Physical activity seems to go down a decline with age, as you grow older you tend to exercise less and become lazy and less bothered about caring for your body. In England only 17% of men and 13% of women aged 65-74 are physically active.
Physical inactivity is one of the most common causes of death and severe illnesses in developed countries, this is said to be responsible for an estimate of 22-23% pointing to CHD, 16-17% for colon cancer, 15% towards diabetes, 12-13% for strokes and 11% for breast cancer.
A 10% increase with participating and getting involved with physical activity, as well as combined with a better diet could help to avoid 300 premature deaths.
Not exercising and failing to keep active can result in many dangerous consequences from:
- Obesity = reduces life expectancy by 9 years
- High blood pressure = kidney failure
- Chronic heart disease = strokes
This should be a warning reminding people to become active and maintain that to give yourself a better quality of life.
Financial Problems
Financial problems is something a lot of people will face in their lifetime, it is very important to know how to manage your money and to make sure you don't fall into this crisis.
In order to do this you must ensure your money goes to priority factors such as paying for gas, electricity, mortgage, rent and water bills, if this is not the action your taking now, it will affect you sooner or later down the line in the long term.
Debt is a very stressful and disturbing problem, many people go into a state where they like to believe their not involved in the situation and try to ignore letters and phone calls from the government demanding for money, this only makes it worse as the government will have to take legal actions which can therefore result in being kicked out and losing your home.
People who are experiancing financial problems can seek professional help.
These are the agencies that can provide help:
- National debtline
- Debt support trust
- Tax aid
- Credit action
S.M
