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A study in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine finds that children who have ready access to cigarettes and peers who smoke are more likely to take up smoking than children who do not, HealthDay reports. Supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, the four-year study followed 1,195 students ages 11 to 14 who lived in six Massachusetts communities. At the beginning of the study, 1,027 students had never smoked before and 168 had previously initiated smoking but smoked less than once a week. During the four years, 177 additional students initiated smoking, and 109 became regular smokers. The researchers found that children with perceived accessibility to cigarettes were more likely to begin smoking, a risk that was further exacerbated by the presence of peer-smokers. Given the findings, one study author notes that the presence of either of those factors should "raise a red flag and prompt [physicians] to talk with parents and kids about how to avoid smoking." In addition, the researchers recommend that future youth anti-smoking interventions address the availability of cigarettes in order to effectively curb smoking initiation and progression (HealthDay, 7/14/08; United Press International, 7/16/08; Doubeni et al., Annals of Family Medicine, July/August 2008).