DR WALLACE: I'll be a high school senior this fall and am prepared to go off to college out of state starting next summer.

Before I leave my hometown, one of my goals is to help my father stop smoking. He's been a smoker for a long time, and I've watched many other family members beg, plead and even nag him incessantly to quit his nasty habit.

Of course, none of these methods have worked, and although he readily admits that he would like to stop smoking and that he rues the day he began smoking in the first place, he's at a loss as to how to get himself out from under this multidecade habit.

I can obviously research all of the common ways to try to lobby my father to stop smoking, but I thought I would ask if you have any creative ways I can make a pitch to my father that he hasn't heard before. — Want To Do This for Him Before I Leave, via email

WANT TO DO THIS FOR HIM BEFORE I LEAVE: Quitting smoking for anyone on this planet is indeed a tall order, and it's several times more difficult trying to convince another person to quit once and for all.

I'll say upfront that I don't have any foolproof methods to help convince others to stop smoking. However, I feel a twofold presentation may provide you with your best shot.

Begin by gathering up some leaflets and printed information from your local American Lung Association and American Cancer Society offices. Yes, this information is difficult to read, and at times is difficult to look at, but it provides a very sobering wake-up call for many people who actually take the time to read through the information and look at the pictures.

Second, take the time to write a nice, long handwritten letter to your father, letting him know just how much you love him, care about him and why you want him to quit smoking. Tell him that you want him to be there to witness your college graduation, your potential future marriage and even perhaps meet his grandchild someday.

The combination of these two items delivered to him before you move out of the family house should really give him some food for thought. Once you're gone, you can follow up with him intermittently to check on his progress without it seeming like you are constantly nagging him. Hopefully, he'll slowly but surely make up his mind to find a way to start winding down his smoking days. It can be done, but it takes strength, perseverance and a true desire to reach the finish line.

AMERICANS LOVE CULTURAL FOOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

DR WALLACE: My friend, who is from Mexican heritage, tells me that tacos are actually not a full meal in Mexico. He says the word taco actually means something like a light snack.

If this is true, why do we get so excited about eating tacos as a main meal in America when they don't even do that in Mexico? — Curious About This, via email

CURIOUS ABOUT THIS: This is much like how Americans took the Italian side dish of pizza and turned it into a spectacular array of main courses here in the U.S.

You might be surprised to know that Americans eat approximately 4.5 billion tacos per year! You might also find it interesting that we consume over 2 billion pounds of avocados annually, with most of them imported directly from Mexico.

America has an appetite for taking a wide variety of cultural dishes from around the world and turning them into spectacular main entrees that you can find just about everywhere. This is true of every culture and every type of food from around the world.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Reza Mehrad at Unsplash