No Smoking Day 2016

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) wants to inspire parents to quit smoking by highlighting the support that is available. In the run-up to No Smoking Day 2016 on Wednesday March 9, they want you to know that you’re not alone on this journey and also want to help you understand the dangerous effects of secondhand smoke or “passive smoke” on your children. Here, they tell the story of Andreena Bogle-Walton, a parent whose child was the inspiration to quit for good…

Andreena Bogle-Walton, 31, from Walthamstow was a heavy smoker, until her daughter convinced her to quit.
For Andreena, like so many other parents, giving up smoking was a huge challenge, and sadly, not even being pregnant could stop her.

Andreena started smoking when she was just 13 and would steal her mum’s cigarettes from the kitchen drawer. She was soon smoking 20 a day and prioritising cigarettes – even over food. The day came when Andreena’s daughter, Renee, started asking questions about her mum’s habit.

Renee had learnt at school that smoking was one of the worst things you could do for your heart health and told her mum she couldn’t understand why she would do something that could take her away from the family.

“Seeing it through a child’s eyes was a huge wake up call. I did it for my daughter.”

Andreena realised that she was wasting thousands of pounds on something that would make her smell worse, age faster and die younger. She decided to quit.

She used patches and gum to get her through and describes feeling very excited in the first week as she managed to not smoke for days at a time. But as time went on she struggled – at weeks two and three she suffered mood swings and felt very emotional. This is when Andreena really relied on her smoking cessation adviser for her support and to keep her motivated.

Daughter Renee had been on holiday in Jamaica for six weeks, and when she came back Andreena had been smoke free the whole time. Renee could tell immediately that her mum had quit and Andreena describes a real sense of pride and achievement.
She says:

“It was Renee who wanted me to quit, and it had a really positive effect on our relationship. I have more money to take her places, and more time for her.
“If she comes to me asking for help with homework, I’ll do it. There’s no more: ‘Renee, go to your room, I’m smoking.’ I used to justify my smoking habit as the only ‘me’ time I had. But now there’s more time for the two of us.”

Passive smoking is a cause of short and long term illnesses in others and is particularly harmful to children, especially in enclosed spaces. Secondhand smoke exposure causes an increased risk of respiratory infections, increased severity of asthma symptoms, more frequent occurrence of chronic coughs and increased cot death. It is estimated that globally 600,000 deaths a year are caused by secondhand smoke, mainly among women and children.

Passive smoking not only negatively impacts children’s immediate health, it can also influence their habits in the future – children who are exposed to smoking in their homes are more likely to smoke than those who are brought up in smoke free environments.

After successfully quitting, Andreena also gave up her admin job to retrain as a smoking cessation advisor.

“People thought I was mad to change jobs! But I knew how brilliant my stop smoking adviser had been and really felt I could help other people in the same way.

“Now I run a series of clinics for groups and individuals across East London. My diary’s packed but I love it. And by taking the risk and retraining I’ve earned myself a significant pay rise. Quitting smoking quite literally made everything fall into place and I couldn’t be happier because of it.”

No Smoking Day 2016 will be held on Wednesday 9 March. Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health and the risk to your overall health decreases significantly soon after stopping.

To get involved in No Smoking Day or to receive information and support on stopping smoking visit nosmokingday.org.uk and join the conversation on twitter using the hashtag #NoSmokingDay