How does tobacco affect athletic performance?

• Smoking is proven to cause a shortness of breath. This can have detrimental effects on an athlete’s endurance, making aerobic activity more difficult. Also, a smoker’s heartbeat is three times faster than that of a non-smoker, so in competition, the body wastes a lot of heartbeats just trying to keep up with non-smokers.”
• Don’t get trapped. Nicotine in cigarettes, cigars, and spit tobacco is addictive.
• Nicotine narrows your blood vessels and puts added strain on your heart.
• Smoking can wreck lungs and reduce oxygen available for muscles used during sports.
• Smokers suffer shortness of breath (gasp!) almost 3 times more often than nonsmokers.
• Smokers run slower and can’t run as far, affecting overall athletic performance.
• Cigars and spit tobacco are NOT safe alternatives See tip sheets Health effects of cigar use and About spit tobacco.

Tobacco and Personal Appearance

• Yuck! Tobacco smoke can make hair and clothes stink.
• Tobacco stains teeth and causes bad breath.
• Short-term use of spit tobacco can cause cracked lips, white spots, sores, and bleeding in the mouth.
• Surgery to remove oral cancers caused by tobacco use can lead to serious changes in the face.

What can YOU do?

• Despite the impact of movies, music, and TV, parents can be the GREATEST INFLUENCE in youths’ lives.
• Talk directly to youth about the risks of tobacco use; if friends or relatives died from tobacco-related illnesses let them know.
• If you use tobacco, you can still make a difference. Your best move, of course, is to try to quit (visit Quitnow.ca to find out how). Meanwhile, don’t use tobacco in a youth’s presence, don’t offer it to them, and don’t leave it where they can easily get it.
• Start the dialogue about tobacco use at age 5 or 6 and continue through their high school years.
  
• Know if your kids’ friends use tobacco. Talk about ways to refuse tobacco.
• Discuss with youths the false glamorization of tobacco in movies, and on TV.
• Support businesses that don’t sell tobacco to youths. Frequent restaurants and other places that are tobacco-free.
• Remember that all K-12 schools, and school-grounds, in BC are now tobacco-free.

Links:

Tobacco Free Sports