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School Vending Machine Mini Grants

The Prevention Connections School Vending program is accepting applications for up to 75 mini-grants for $500 each to support a healthy vending initiative in Virginia Title I middle schools as well as high schools with at least a 40% enrollment rate in the school’s free and reduced lunch program.

This is a great opportunity for schools/students to look at what is offered in their vending machines during the school day.

To apply, visit www.preventionconnections.org.

Anti-Smoking Programs Are Slashed As Budget Constraints Force States to Trim Cessation Efforts, Rate of Adult Smokers Stops Declining

from The Wall Street Journal - November 8, 2010

By DAVID KESMODEL And BETSY MCKAY

Many cash-strapped U.S. states are slashing budgets for tobacco-prevention programs, raising alarms among public-health groups as the nation's progress toward getting adult smokers to quit has stalled.

The adult smoking rate was 20.6% in 2009, the same as a year earlier and largely unchanged since 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That amounted to 46.6 million adult smokers in 2009.

States have cut their combined funding for smoking prevention in the current fiscal year to the lowest level since 1999, according to data gathered by a coalition of antismoking groups for a report that will be released later this month.

The $517 million allocated by states for tobacco prevention and cessation in fiscal-year 2011 is down 9.2% from $569 million a year earlier and 28% less than states spent in 2008, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington advocacy group preparing the report, along with the American Lung Association and others.

The latest amount still exceeds the $300 million spent by states in fiscal 1999, when many programs were getting under way or accelerating their efforts following the landmark Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 between 46 states and cigarette companies that was designed to help states recoup the cost of treating sick smokers. Under the agreement, the tobacco companies were to pay an estimated $246 billion over 25 years to the states, though states are allowed to spend their settlement dollars on needs other than tobacco prevention.

In fiscal 2010, In fiscal 2010, tobacco-settlement revenue amounted to an estimated $8.1 billion for all states.

Public-health experts and tobacco-control groups worry that states' recent spending reductions could further undermine efforts to counter tobacco-industry marketing, persuade smokers to quit and to deter young people from starting.

Tobacco use is linked to an estimated 443,000 deaths a year in the U.S., making it the nation's leading cause of preventable death, according to the CDC. A decline in youth smoking rates has also slowed since 2003.

"There's a risk of a setback," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said of the funding cutbacks. "The data are very clear. The more we invest in tobacco control, the fewer people smoke, and that prevents illness, disability, deaths and healthcare costs."

He cited California as an example. The state has run a comprehensive tobacco-control program since 1989 that includes anti-smoking advertising campaigns, toll-free "quit lines" that people use to talk to cessation counselors, and other measures. California's adult smoking rate fell to 12.9% in 2009—the second-lowest in the nation after Utah—from 22.8% in 1988. Several other states reduced their smoking rates by a third or more since the late 1990s after implementing similar programs, Mr. Frieden said.

The spending cutbacks come as the federal government has increased spending on tobacco prevention, with more than $191 million of short-term grants to states and communities in recent months from the stimulus bill and the national health-care overhaul. The Food and Drug Administration also has new authority to regulate tobacco, including restricting advertising and putting new warning labels on tobacco products.

Smoking-rate declines have stalled in several states that have cut prevention dollars. Ohio trimmed its smoking rate by five percentage points between 2001 and 2005, when it was allocating as much as $60 million a year to tobacco prevention. In the next four-year span, when its funding dropped to as low as $6 million a year, its smoking rate fell by two points—to 20.3% in 2009.

In its current fiscal year, Ohio has $2.3 million of state funds—money unspent from previous master-settlement revenue—allocated to prevention. It has about another $3 million from federal funds, some of which are temporary.

Mari-jean Siehl, chief of Ohio's tobacco-use prevention and cessation program, said she doesn't have money to continue the state's tobacco quit-line program in fiscal 2012. "With little to no marketing or educational budget, it's really tough to get the word out about the quit line and some of the other resources we have," Ms. Siehl said.

Shelly Kiser, an Ohio-based antismoking advocate for the American Lung Association, said "the funding we have right now [in Ohio] is like putting a drop of water on a burning fire. It doesn't have a lot of impact."Washington state slashed its smoking rate 34% over a decade, seeing it drop to 14.8% in 2009, following consistent funding of media campaigns targeting low-income people and other high-risk groups, a quit line that has fielded 150,000 callers since 2000, school programs, and other efforts. State spending on the program reached $27.2 million in 2007.

Now, with the state facing a projected $4.8 billion budget deficit for the next two fiscal years, it is redistributing funding for the state tobacco-control program to local health departments for their general use. The program will be left with about $1.4 million of federal funding for fiscal 2012, said Mary Selecky, the state's secretary of health.

Her team will pursue "very, very targeted work" to reduce smoking among low-income groups, she said, adding, "We're going to do the best with what we have."

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Prevention Connections Offers Safe Routes to School Grants

Prevention Connections’ Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is accepting applications for mini-grants of $2,000 for communities to sponsor a Walk and Bike to School event. Safe Routes to School is a federal program designed to help children to be more physically active and can assist schools and communities struggling with safety, transportation costs and traffic challenges.

The goals of the mini-grant program are to (1) increase awareness of the benefits of safe walking/biking to school, (2) increase the number of youth engaging in physical activity through walking/biking to school and (3) provide schools with resources on SRTS best practices and additional funding opportunities.

The mini-grants specifically target low-income areas. Studies show that these children face a higher risk of being injured or killed as pedestrians. The mini-grant program is intended to be a catalyst for these communities to begin to examine ways to make the environment safer and more accessible for children to walk and bike to school, as well as to connect these groups with larger funding opportunities.

The application is available online at www.preventionconnections.org
In order to apply, the targeted schools must be Title I elementary and/or middle schools in Virginia. A variety of groups are encouraged to apply including PTAs, local governments, community agencies and nonprofits, etc.

The deadline for applications is Thursday, December 30, 2010, 11:59 p.m. For any additional information, contact Ashley Johnson, SRTS Program Manager, at (804) 225-3004 or ajohnson@preventionconnections.org.

About Prevention Connections

Prevention Connections is committed to the prevention and reduction of tobacco use and childhood obesity through education, intervention, policy development and community outreach to improve the health of individuals and communities. Prevention Connections is the nonprofit sister organization of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth.

Save the Date!

One in Five High School Students Still Smoking

The Centers for Disease Control recently released a report on youth smoking. Smoking among high school students continued to decline during 2003–2009, but at a slower rate than during 1999–2003.

See the full report here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/

Let's Move - National Childhood Obesity Prevention

Newsweek’s cover story package last week focused on Michelle Obama’s national childhood obesity prevention initiative:

Michelle Obama on why she’s fighting childhood obesity:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234885

Tackling the childhood obesity epidemic:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234886

How docs can fight childhood obesity:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/234887

VFHY Trainings in March and April

The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth is hosting trainings across the sate. The trainings are open to anyone in the field of prevention. Each training workshop is a day-long and only costs $25! The $25 includes the cost of the training and a continental breakfast and lunch. Below is the list of the trainings for March and April.
To register, click on the following link: http://www.healthyyouthva.org/training/ The Training Opportunities page will be displayed listing all available workshops with dates and locations. To review the course descriptions and register, either click on the course title or the MORE INFORMATION & REGISTRATION link. Simply fill in the requested information and click on the submit button.

March 30 - Richmond - Advanced Cultural Competency
March 31 - Richmond - Advanced Prevention
April 7 - Roanoke - Advanced Prevention
April 8 - Richmond - Measuring Youth Program Outcomes
April 13 - Northern Va - Assessing Student Learning
April 14 - Richmond - Assessing Student Learning
April 14 - Richmond - Fidelity Based Adaptations
April 20 - Richmond - Youth Helping Youth
April 27 - Tidewater Area - Facilitation Skills
April 28 - Richmond - How To Make Tobacco A Priority Issue
April 29 - Roanoke - Identitying the Potential of Youth
April 30 – Roanoke - Managing Behaviors In Youth Programs

Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth Now on Facebook

If you are a member of Facebook, please consider joining our Fan Page.

Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/yaz5qx7

We will be posting updates on tobacco and obesity prevention.

Childhood Obesity Prevention Conference

Healthy Kids Resources

At our annual grantee conference in September 2009, I mentioned some good resources for incorporating healthy snacks and physical activity into your tobacco prevention programs.

Here are links to the brochures that were discussed:

Healthy Food Guidelines for Meetings, Concessions and Other Events
http://www.healthyyouthva.org/vtsf/grantees/conference/healthy_foods_booklet.pdf

CDC Physical Activity
http://www.healthyyouthva.org/vtsf/grantees/conference/physical_activity_cdc_brochure.pdf

Download them and take a look!

FDA Orders Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients by January 20, 2010

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has directed cigarette companies to provide detailed information on their products by June, when the agency for the first time will begin studying the composition of cigarettes in detail, the Associated Press reported Jan. 18.

Tobacco companies also must give the FDA any research they have conducted on the effects of cigarette ingredients.

The FDA will classify the ingredients, determine their relative harm, and possibly ban some ingredients or combinations thereof. Information protected under trade-secret laws won't be publicly disclosed, but the FDA is mandated to publish a list of harmful and potentially dangerous ingredients by the middle of next year.

"Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don't know what's in them," said Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.

From www.jointogether.org

Smokeless-Tobacco Use By 12th Graders Hits 11-Year High

Smokeless-Tobacco Use By 12th Graders Hits 11-Year High
By Richard Craver, Media General News Service, 2 weeks, 6 days ago

The use of smokeless-tobacco products reached an 11-year high among 12th graders nationwide in 2009, according to the annual Monitoring the Future study released yesterday. The study by University of Michigan researchers found that 8.4 percent of 12th graders used the products within a 30-day period - the highest level since 8.8 percent in 1998. The rate had been as low as 6.1 percent in 2006 and was 6.5 percent in 2008.

The rate of use among 8th graders rose from 3.5 percent in 2008 to 3.7 percent in 2009, while the use among 10th graders increased from 5 percent to 6.5 percent. By comparison, 20.1 percent of 12th graders said they smoked within a 30-day period compared with 20.4 percent in 2008.

The study, in its 35th year, included 46,097 8th, 10th and 12th graders from 389 schools. It also showed that marijuana use is becoming more popular among U.S. teens and that they have cut down on binge drinking and using methamphetamine.

The study comes on the heels of a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month that showed that more local high-school students were using marijuana than smoking cigarettes. Most researchers and analysts say that it is too soon to tell whether the combination of new smokeless-tobacco products, particularly at subsidiaries of Reynolds American Inc., and recent prominent advertising in magazines played a prominent role in the increases in the use of smokeless-tobacco products.

But the report is likely to stoke further debate between two sets of anti-smoking groups. One set says smokeless tobacco serves as gateway products for teenagers to cigarettes. The other set encourages the products as a way to reduce the risk of tobacco use compared with cigarettes.

"These new products no doubt appeal to kids because they are easy to conceal, carry the names of youth-popular cigarette brands, and come in candy-like forms and flavors," said Matthew Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "More than 60 percent of smokeless marketing is spent on price discounts, including coupons, that make smokeless tobacco products more affordable and appealing to price-sensitive youth customers."

Among the more outspoken proponents of smokeless-tobacco products as reduced-risk alternatives has been Bill Godshall, the executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania. "It appears that more youth smokers, like adult smokers, are beginning to substitute smokeless tobacco for cigarettes," Godshall said. "Since cigarettes are 100 times more hazardous than smokeless tobacco, public health benefits every time a smoker switches to smokeless, regardless of age."

The increased marketing of smokeless tobacco likely has had some effect on teenagers, said Dr. John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Spangler is involved in federally funded research aimed at developing strategy for reducing use or even quitting smokeless-tobacco products. "

It should be noted that research does not support the concept that people will quit smoking by switching to smokeless," Spangler said. "In fact, there is a very high risk that smokers who turn to smokeless tobacco become dual users of cigarettes and oral tobacco." David Howard, a Reynolds spokesman, said that "it is a guiding principle of the company that youth should not use tobacco products. All of our marketing communications are designed for, and communicate with, adult tobacco consumers."

Although it was the 10th time in the past 12 years that the smoking rate among 12th graders declined, anti-tobacco advocates said they are concerned by the marginal drop. That's because the number of adults who smoke rose from 19.7 percent in 2007 to 20.6 percent - or 46 million Americans - in 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The proportions of students seeing a great risk associated with being a smoker has leveled off in the past several years," Johnston said. One factor in the continuing decline of cigarette smoking among teenagers may be hormonal - 81 percent of 8th graders, 80 percent of 10th graders and 75 percent of 12th graders said "they would prefer to date people who don't smoke." "It is clear that any young person today who becomes a smoker will pay an important social price for that choice by becoming less attractive to the great majority of the opposite sex," the researchers said.

Source: Monitoring the Future study by University of Michigan researcher