(News.com.au)- - ANTI-smoking campaigners are calling for tougher measures to protect children from tobacco after a study revealed they start to become addicted from the first puff.

A five-year study of more than 1200 children aged between seven and 12 found symptoms of nicotine dependence developed soon after tobacco was inhaled the first time.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) chief executive Anne Jones said the Canadian study showed that dependency on tobacco products developed far more quickly than experts had previously thought.

"We have more than 205,000 Australian children smoking regularly. They are now dealing with a product whose nicotine content may have risen 10 per cent in the past six years, making it even harder to quit," Ms Jones said.