Children who smoke just one cigarette are more than twice as likely to take up the habit in their teenage years, research published in Thursday the scientific journal Tobacco Control showed.
The study of teenage smoking habits found that the compulsion to smoke after having tried one cigarette can lay dormant for more than three years, indicating a "sleeper effect".
Amongst those who had tried smoking at 11 years old, 18 percent were smokers at the age of 14, while the figure was seven percent for those who had never smoked.
"We know that progression from experimenting with one cigarette to being a smoker can take several years," said lead researcher Jennifer Fidler, from University College London.
"But for the first time we've shown that there may be a period of dormancy between trying cigarettes and becoming a regular smoker - a 'sleeper effect' or vulnerability to nicotine addiction.
"The results also indicate that prior experimentation is a strong predictor of taking up smoking later."