SUNDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) — If your mother is a smoker, you might consider giving her a Mother’s Day gift that could help her kick the habit and live a longer, healthier life, suggests the American Lung Association.
Freedom From Smoking Online is a self-paced program that’s available 24 hours a day and offers users tools and support that may help them quit smoking for good. The program costs $40 for a one-year membership and $15 for a three-month membership.
“Quitting smoking is the single most important step a smoker can take to improve the length and quality of her life. You can also save a considerable amount of money,” Charles D. Connor, president and CEO of the American Lung Association, said in a news release. “Helping your mother kick the habit is one of the best ways to make sure your mother is around long enough to become a grandmother.”
The benefits of quitting smoking go beyond health and longevity. Mothers who don’t smoke have an easier time keeping up with their children, are less likely to end up with children who smoke, and don’t create secondhand smoke that threatens the health of everyone else in the family.
Each year in the United States, more than 170,000 women die from smoking-related causes, according to the American Lung Association. Lung cancer, not breast cancer, is the leading cause of death among women in the United States.
More information
The American Cancer Society offers a guide to quitting smoking.