A HARD-HITTING new health programme is telling schoolchildren about the 50-50 gamble they would take with their health if they started smoking.

Children in ten schools across Bradford are finding out why they should not start smoking, and why they should convince their parents to quit, under the £26,000 scheme.

Bradford is one of the newest areas of the country to sign up to the programme, run by UK charity Quit.

Under the scheme, a youth presenter from Quit visits schools to lead interactive assemblies for children aged 10 to 13, telling them that cigarettes kill one in every two long-term smokers.

They also learn about the ingredients in cigarettes, the effects of passive smoking on friends, family and pets and the cost of taking up the habit.

Children are then asked to take two booklets home, one for themselves and one to show their parents, which will include details of Bradford Council's stop smoking service.

The project is being funded by Bradford Council.

Joanne Nykol, tobacco lead for Bradford Council’s public health department, said: "It's a two-pronged technique. Through drama, they are getting the messages across to young people around the dangers of taking up smoking.

"It's also getting that information across from the children through to their parents, so children are taking these messages home about the benefits of quitting.

"It's often quite a good way of getting messages across. We talk about 'pester power' from children - sometimes it works.

"We work with a lot of smokers here with the service and a lot of them say, 'I wish I'd never started', so often they don't want their young people to start smoking."

The ten schools were selected because lifestyle surveys suggested there was a particularly high rate of smoking in those areas.

They are Oakbank School, Tong High School, Queensbury School, Carlton Bolling College, Marshfield Primary School, Newby Primary School, Farfield Primary School, Glenaire Primary School, The Holy Family Catholic School and Westminster C of E Primary School.

Andrew Gillespie, stop smoking specialist for Bradford Council, said: "We know that two-thirds of smokers start smoking before the age of eighteen so it is important to provide effective programmes like the one provided by Quit.

"Our aim is to help create a smoke free district where the next generation understand that smoking is not a normal activity and that cigarettes kill one in every two long-term smokers."

Bradford Council is also working with researchers from the University College London who aim to measure the value-for-money of the scheme nationwide by monitoring what impact it has.

To contact Bradford’s stop smoking service, call (01274) 437700. For more information about local stop smoking support, visit www.smokescape.org or call 0845 27 07 222.