Tobacco makes education possible in China – health miss-hap or educational success? 

In September 2011 North America realized that in dozens of rural villages in China’s western provinces, tobacco made children's education possible.

The gates of these schools has a slogan which translated to “genius comes from hard work – Tobacco helps you become talented”

The school, which was built by the local tobacco company after a deadly earthquake in 2008, also bears the green leaf logo of China Tobacco, the country's all-powerful state-controlled monopoly, on its parapet.

China Tobacco is the world's largest manufacturer of tobacco products, with over 900 brands, and is owned by the Chinese government. China is the world's largest tobacco market and as many as 60 per cent of its men smoke.

Anti-smoking campaigners described the sponsorship deals as “sickening” and “shocking”, and noted they broke the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which China ratified in 2005

Cary Adams, chief executive of the Union for International Cancer Control, said: “Having just concluded a historic UN summit on non-communicable diseases where tobacco was highlighted as crucial to lessening the global burden of cancer, it is both shocking and disheartening to hear reports of such disregard for the health of so many young people…Governments need to be in the business of helping their citizens, not propelling this epidemic further.”

Smoking among women in China is currently low compared to that of men. But tobacco industry sponsorship of primary schools is a revoltingly blatant means of recruiting young girls, as well as boys, to a life of addiction to a deadly drug\

Around 1.2 million of China’s 300 million smokers died every year from smoking-related diseases, a figure expected to triple by 2030.

There are now 16 million smokers under the age of 15 in China, 6.3 per cent of the youth population, according to the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, a survey of 12,000 schoolchildren by Peking University last year found that almost a third of boys between 13 and 15 have tried smoking and that the average age Chinese smokers have their first cigarette is 10.

Many of the primary schools funded by tobacco companies are part of China's Hope project, a charity that has rolled out schools in the countryside for the poor. Parents seem to be very supportive of the tobacco companies. They think they are giving something back to society, but they are just using charity as a front.

Tobacco companies have also built a network of libraries in the countryside, including at least 42 primary school libraries in Xinjiang and 40 in Tibet. They also widely sponsor school sports events and entertainment shows.

Inside the schools, they often have branded uniforms and distribute cigarette-shaped sweets. Vendors near the school gates usually sell cigarettes one-by-one, rather than in packets.

Last year, the Ministry of Education banned all advertisements for tobacco on the campuses of Chinese schools, but have found it difficult to implement the regulation on Hope schools, which are administered by another arm of the Chinese government.

Shackling the tobacco industry has proved next to impossible for the Chinese government, which relies on it for a huge slice of its tax revenues.

In some tobacco growing provinces, such as Yunnan, the industry generates more than 40 per cent of the local government tax take.

The benefits of talking to a health care professional 

         Thinking of quitting smoking? Want to more than DOUBLE these chances? Quitting smoking can be made easier if you speak with a health care professional. If you talk to a doctor, nurse or a pharmacist, they can provide you with a lot of information about different options in regards to quitting that you may not be able to get anywhere else. A doctor could also provide extra support, which would increase your likelihood of quitting, by following up with you after your decision to quit.

         Not sure how to talk to a health care professional? It may be best to do this in various appointments! You can talk to health care professionals about different things including what happened when you previously tried to quit, what you want to do this time, different ways you can cope with nicotine withdrawal, and more!

         One great thing about being a student here at UW is that you can find a health care professional right here on campus! You can visit health services, see your family doctor or head to a pharmacy. Another amazing thing is that these appointments with physicians in Ontario (even those on campus) are FREE! They are covered by OHIP if you are a resident in Ontario. This is also the case with advice from a pharmacist. A fee may be charged by other health professionals.

         So have a chat with a health care professional - it may be what it takes to make your quitting attempt a successful one!

Reference:

http://www.leavethepackbehind.org/your_way_hp.php

Smokeless Tobacco: Safer than Cigarettes? 

Dipping tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus – these are a few of the different types of smokeless tobacco products used by people every day.  We always hear about cigarettes and the dangers, but rarely do the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco come to light.  In India, two of every five deaths are caused by smokeless tobacco, in adults over 30 years old.  Globally, 12% of deaths in adults 30 years and older are due to smokeless tobacco, and in some countries the death toll is as high as 30%!  This statistic is shocking, and truly tells a different story than the fun activity portrayed by some athletes in North America. 

Smokeless tobacco is prominent among young people too!  It is estimated that 20% of teen boys and 2% of teen girls use smokeless tobacco.  Just like cigarettes, using smokeless tobacco products is highly addictive and has detrimental effects.  Often, the reason young adult males are interested in smokeless tobacco is because some athletes use it – many of which has careers and lives that ended tragically due to smokeless tobacco products.  But what are some of the more immediate effects one can expect from using smokeless tobacco products?  Just like cigarettes, it leads to bad breath, yellow-brown stains on the teeth, and mouth sores (ick - who want to kiss that)! 

          Some strategies for quitting “dipping” include using nicotine replacement therapy (available FREE at Health Services at the University of Waterloo this year!), and using substitutes in your mouth – such as mint gum.  For more information talk to a health professional, or come by and chat with one of our team members at our booths! Check out our Facebook for booth times: www.facebook.com/ltpbwaterloo

Reference: 

www.kidshealth.org  

Quit Run Chill

Last Year the provincial government and Brock researchers launched a new online program to help young smokers avoid smoking, be physically active and cope with stress. The program is FREE and for smokers and non-smokers to choose a healthier lifestyle.

The “Quit Run Chill” program was developed with $26,000 from the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport’s Healthy Communities Fund. It is now being promoted on virtually all post-secondary campuses in Ontario and in many communities.

“This initiative will help older youth and young adults establish and sustain a pattern of physical activity that will facilitate smoking cessation and reduce stress,” said Kelli-an Lawrance, associate professor, Community Health Sciences. “Following the program on its own, or in combination with quitting, will ultimately reduce an individual’s risk of hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases and contribute to positive mental health.”

Leave The Pack Behind (LTPB), a province-wide peer-to-peer smoking cessation initiative maintains the program.

LTPB operates at all universities and almost all public colleges in Ontario and reaches more than 500,000 students, which accounts for 50% of young adults in the province.

“This reaches thousands of students across the province with a healthy message: if you smoke, quit. If you’re not active, exercise. If you stress, relax,” he said.

Post-secondary students, supported by Brock researchers and other expert consultants designed “Quit Run Chill.” The program is self-directed and includes eight weeks of fresh information, ideas and inspirations about quitting smoking, being active and reducing stress.

• Quit: a proven self-help smoking cessation program, information about quitting options, and strategies for managing nicotine withdrawal
• Run: an eight-week progressive running program for new runners and a downloadable instruction manual
• Chill: tips for immediate and long-term relief of stress and weekly stress management ideas and inspirations

“Quit Run Chill” is interactive; facts, tips and inspirations are updated weekly. It is also highly personalized; registrants receive tailored weekly emails and can record, track and review their running (and quitting) progress online.

Sign up today!

Reference: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=5421

Smoking & Physical Activity

According to the public agency of Canada, physical activity plays an important role in the health and well being of all Canadians. Those that live physically active lives generally live more productive lives, and are more likely to avoid illness and injury.

Being active doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many ways to make physical activity a part of daily life — at home, at school, and at work. (http://www.obesitypanacea.com/2009/05/ten-simple-ways-to-become-more.html )

 

It’s no surprise that smoking impedes physical activity. Research reports illustrate 18% of deaths each year are associated with the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. These harmful effects are most often linked to diseases within the cardiovascular system. Quitting smoking today could greatly improve your cardiovascular fitness in as little as two to eight hours.

Tar is the toxic chemical that is found in cigarettes. This tar slowly clouds the alveoli in your lungs. Alveoli are delicate microscopic bubbles that fill your lungs and are connected to airways that carry air in and out of them. They are extremely thin sacks of tissue holding a network of capillaries, or minute blood vessels. Alveoli expose all of your blood, one single red blood cell at a time; to the fresh air you fill your lungs with every breath you take. Perfusion, or blood flow, must match ventilation so oxygen diffuses into your blood and CO2 diffuses out properly. You cannot ventilate properly without healthy alveoli.

Smokers’ lungs have less surface area and fewer small blood vessels. So the lungs receive less food and oxygen than they need to function normally.  Every puff of smoke inhaled causes the airways to constrict.  Over time, the narrowing of airways causes irreversible lung damage.

Cardiovascular fitness and heart rate response to exercise are already reduced in young healthy smokers. In men, the adverse effects of smoking become stronger with increasing age but appear to be reversible at age 36.

A number of physical endurance studies have shown that that smokers reach exhaustion before non-smokers do and can’t run as far or as fast as non-smokers. Additional results noted that smokers:

o   Obtained less benefit from physical training

o   Had less muscular strength and flexibility

o   Experienced disturbed sleep patterns

o   Suffered from shortness of breath almost three times as often as non-smokers

Smoking also affects your bones and joints, putting you at increased risk for developing the following conditions:

o   Osteoporosis

o   Hip fractures

o   Rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Young people who smoke experience the same negative effects of tobacco that adult smokers do. This includes not only lower physical endurance and performance compared to their non-smoking peers, but also shortness of breath, increased sports-related injuries, and poorer overall health.

Smoking young adults can also slow down their lung growth, impair lung function, and cause their hearts to beat faster than those of non-smokers.

Fortunately for both adult and young smokers, many of the effects of smoking can be reversed if and when they quit smoking.

Habitual physical activity is easier than you think. It can be met through planned exercise sessions, active forms of transportation like walking or biking, as well as recreation and sports.

To make physical activity apart of your daily routine check out Leave the Pack Behinds’ QUITRUNCHILL program for smokers and non-smokers. This free, online-based program assumes that everyone wants to be a bit healthier. It offers facts about quitting, being active, and managing stress in a healthier manner. Be sure to check it out at: http://www.quitrunchill.org/.

 

Smoking Outdoors – Is That Enough?

          Most people who smoke are aware of policies regarding the banning of smoking indoor public places. One issue however, is some don’t realize where outside they can smoke. For instance, no one can smoke within 10 meters of a building entrance. Many of those who smoke are aware this law exists, but it is not always followed. The reason this law is broken is not always an intentional one.

         Research demonstrates that painted lines are seen as the best practice for demarcation of smoking areas. The use of lines is to indicate where people must move back from entranceways when smoking. When areas are clearly marked as appropriate distances away from entrances, more people become compliant.

         Why is this distance of concern? It is because there is increasing evidence for harmful effects of second hand smoke in outdoor environments. Smoking too close to doors allows drift of smoke into indoor areas as well impacting those who are using the entranceways.

         Therefore, it is important not only for smokers to smoke outdoors, but to smoke the appropriate distance away from building entrances. If people smoke far enough from entrances, they are significantly reducing the damage to the health of those around them. 

Today is the first day of the WouldURather… Contest!

            To all participants of the WouldURather…(WUR) Contest, thank you for joining and we hope you are excited for your first day!  You may be asking yourself, how can being in this contest help me quit smoking? Is using a contest to quit smoking any better than the other options?  I’d like to shed some light on these questions in my blog today, and I hope to excite and motivate you on your first day in the contest!

            Research shows that young adults are most interested in receiving self-direct, convenient, and cheap interventions to help them quit smoking – all of which are components of the WUR contest.  Also – not surprisingly – young adults are much more likely to quit smoking if given the opportunity to win a prize.  I’m sure we can all relate to that!  Students who sign up for the WUR contest are also more likely to quit because of the social network it provides.  You can link up with friends or roommates and quit together, and research has shown that quitting smoking is easier if your friends are quitting too!  

            So how effective exactly is a contest in helping you quit smoking?  Research from previous contests show that quit rates usually range between 10-50%, whereas unassisted quit rates (aka going at it alone) are much lower – only 5-7%. 

But what about the WUR contest specifically, how effective has it shown to be?  Our research has shown it is VERY EFFECTIVE!  Six months after the contest ended, 24% of those in Quit for Good and 27% of those in Keep the Count were still smoke-free!  That is an astounding number, versus the 5-7% quit rate mentioned earlier for those who quit smoking without assistance.

I hope I’ve helped to excite you all about the contest you are in!  Feel free to comment on this blog or on our Facebook page and let us know how the contest is going for you so far!