Here are some web sites that you may find helpful regarding tobacco use.
The Vermont Quit Network
www.vtquitnetwork.org
"Choose the way that is right for you to quit" Options for quit smoking!
Our Voices Exposed
www.OVX.org
Educates teens about Big Tobacco, learn the manipulative ways Big Tobacco promotes its products and how your voice can be heard.
Vermont Kids Against Tobacco
www.goVKAT.org
Aimed at middle school youth, the web site from the Vermont Department of Health educates youth on tobacco issues and encourages their involvement in tobacco use prevention advocacy
Learn the Truth About Big Tobacco
www.Thetruth.com
Targeting teens, this web site has all kinds of statistics and data regarding how Big Tobacco manipulates teens to use their products, provocative videos as well
Smoke Free Movies
www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu
Learn about the association between smoking and the movie industry, advocate to end smoking in the movies, and learn which actors, directors, producers, film studios are the biggest offenders
Retail Tobacco Advertising
www.exposebigtobacco.com
This New York State web site has information that may seem NY based, but the information is applicable to retail tobacco advertising in general as well. The site provides a list of other informative web links.
American Lung Association
www.LungUSA.org
The American Lung Association is an organization with a long history of fighting lung disease due to smoking. A variety of information can be found on their web site.
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Teens & Tobacco
Meet Rick Bender (www.nosuff.com)
Just so you know, there is no safe or safer use of tobacco. All tobacco products will get you addicted to nicotine, which will only cause you to keep using tobacco. And continued use of tobacco will only make you sick and eventually cause a multitude of health problems. One out of three smokers dies from their tobacco use habit – that is the hard truth. So don’t start and help your friends and loved ones who do smoke to quit.
And, oh, by the way, most teens don’t smoke. It is definitely not a cool thing to do, but the big tobacco companies want you to think so. The big tobacco companies, like RJ Reynolds which makes the Marlboro brand of cigarettes, make a boat load of money from teens who smoke.
See, if a young person starts smoking in their teens and say becomes a pack a day smoker by the time she is 18, and let’s say that a pack of cigarettes costs $6, in a year’s time that’s $2,184 spent on cigarettes! Multiply that out over a bunch of years and that is a lot of money that one person is contributing to their own demise. Not to mention, all the great things that could have been done that money spent on cigarettes! Big tobacco wants to get young people hooked on their nicotine laden products so that there is a guaranteed customer base for years to come. Don’t be fooled by Big tobacco’s advertising!
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Teens & Obesity
During your teen and young adult years, your body is undergoing an amazing amount of growth and development. You could think of it as one big growth spurt of body, mind, and spirit. What you do to your body, how you treat it has a direct impact on its healthy growth. In fact, the human brain is not finished developing until about age 23 – which could explain a lot!
Given that your body is going through this major growth spurt, it is really important to fuel it well and treat it right. What kind of fuel does your body need? Your body needs a varied diet of whole grains, meats and/or beans, milk products, fruits, vegetables and water – not soda, sports drinks or flavored water products, just plain water. Contrary to what the corporate marketing executives want you to think, many of the commercial sweetened beverages have chemicals your body does not need, plus they are laden with calories. So unless you burn the calories you take in, you’re going to gain weight. Beware of foods with high fructose corn syrup or sucrose those are just other forms of sugar. Read the nutrition labels before you consume! Know what you’re eating!
Here’s the Fizzics of Soda:
Did you know that if you drank two 12 ounce cans of soda a day for a month you would consume 8400 calories, including 5 pounds of sugar, and therefore gain more than 4pounds of weight? The average person would have to walk 100 miles to burn off the calories. (Health Edco: Fizzics of Soda)
www.mypyramid.gov is the US Department of Agriculture’s source for a wide variety of nutrition information.
Exercise is equally important to your body. Young people need about 1 hour of fairly intense exercise a day, preferably aerobic activity, such as walking, running, swimming, cycling, etc. Your body is meant to be moved. If you’re not particularly sports inclined, try walking. Brisk walking is an excellent form of exercise and does not require any special equipment or clothing, just a pair of comfortable, supportive shoes.
For more information about exercise and teens there are a couple of web sites to check out: www.teenfitfx.com, or www.kidshealth.org, both give teens a variety of health information in a fun format.
A generation ago, youth obesity was not a major health concern in this country. Today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 17% of children ages 2-19 years old are obese (results from a 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Survey). When kids become obese they develop some health issues that have been historically adult health concerns such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. These are all serious health issues. When a young person becomes obese, there is a 70% chance that that person will also be an obese adult. That’s why it is really important to practice healthy eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits when you’re young – you will reduce your risk of serious health issues later as an adult.
The CDC’s web site is www.cdc.gov/obesity
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