As one of the most popular sports in the United States, baseball is a highly integral and influential part of American culture today. Unfortunately, tobacco companies thrive on Major League Baseball players, who are the most prominent spokesmen for smokeless tobacco. The very heroes that many people, especially young kids, look up to are conveying a dangerous message that promotes a behavior that leads to mouth diseases, cancers, and heart attacks.
Despite the sufferings of Babe Ruth and Tony Gwynn with cancer, MLB players, coaches, and managers continue to chew tobacco all season long. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that smokeless tobacco use among high school boys has increased by 36% in the past seven years.
In a January article in the Washington Post, Washington Nationals superstar pitcher Stephen Strasberg recalls how he began using smokeless tobacco as a teenager to better emulate the ballplayers he idolized. Strasberg is attempting to quit tobacco and his goal was to be tobacco free by spring training. Not only is Strasberg quitting because of the many health risks associated with tobacco use, but he also doesn't want kids who want to be like him to see him chewing.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and nine supporting organizations are calling upon MLB and the Players Association to ban all tobacco use on the field and in the dugout in their upcoming contract negotiations. The contract to be signed will be in place for five seasons, so taking action now is crucial.
Tobacco use has already been banned in the minors, the NCAA and the National Hockey League. It is time that MLB does the same.
Join the Campaign’s efforts to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park by sending a message to Major League Baseball denouncing smokeless tobacco.
Harmeet Singh
Tobacco Control Team
Showing posts with label smokeless tobacco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smokeless tobacco. Show all posts
Monday, 14 March 2011
Friday, 6 August 2010
Addressing Cigarette Use is Simply Not Enough When it Comes to Tobacco Control
Cigarette smoking causes 443,000 deaths annually and is the predominant form of tobacco used in the United States. However, adults also use other tobacco products either singly or in combination. The need to address this issue in tobacco use led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a state-based telephone survey of non-institutionalized adults who are eighteen years or older, and publish a report in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), “Any Tobacco Use in 13 States – Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.”
The CDC analyzed data on the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes that had been collected from thirteen states who agreed to an optional BRFSS module. The CDC looked at data for current cigarette use, any tobacco use (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products), and current polytobacco users (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes and also another form of tobacco). These three different variables were also analyzed according to various risk factors such as gender, household income, education, age, ethnicity, etc.
Researchers found that simply focusing on cigarette use may not be the best solution when it comes to tobacco control. According to the study, in 2008 cigarette use ranged from 14.6% to 26.6%, any tobacco use ranged from 18.4% to 35.0%, and polytobacco use ranged from 1.0% to 3.7% among the thirteen states. Use of any tobacco product was more prevalent among persons who were a member of an unmarried couple, (36.3%), single adults (30.3%), and those who were widowed or divorced (29.1%) compared to married persons (21.2%). Polytobacco use was found to be more prevalent among men (4.4%), young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four (5.7%), those who were single (4.8%), those who had a household income of less than $35,000 a year, adults with less than a high school education (3.6%), and those adults with only a high school diploma or GED (3.6%).
Results from this study show that while tobacco control efforts have focused mainly on decreasing the prevalence of cigarette smoking, the use of other tobacco products also needs to be addressed if we are to improve the health of our nation. When we consider any tobacco use, an additional 5% of the adult population in these thirteen states is added to the prevalence rate for tobacco use. Using multiple tobacco products can also have adverse health effects, lead to higher nicotine addiction, and make the tobacco user unable to quit using tobacco. For these reasons, and the fact that youth have higher polytobacco use than adults, prevention and health policy efforts need to be targeted towards all forms of tobacco and not just cigarette use.
Partnership for Prevention, a long standing advocate for evidence-based tobacco cessation policies, believes that tobacco control should be at the top of our health agenda and should involve proven strategies such as public awareness efforts, youth tobacco use prevention, tobacco tax increases, and smoke free air policies that address all forms of tobacco use.
Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention
The CDC analyzed data on the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes that had been collected from thirteen states who agreed to an optional BRFSS module. The CDC looked at data for current cigarette use, any tobacco use (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products), and current polytobacco users (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes and also another form of tobacco). These three different variables were also analyzed according to various risk factors such as gender, household income, education, age, ethnicity, etc.
Researchers found that simply focusing on cigarette use may not be the best solution when it comes to tobacco control. According to the study, in 2008 cigarette use ranged from 14.6% to 26.6%, any tobacco use ranged from 18.4% to 35.0%, and polytobacco use ranged from 1.0% to 3.7% among the thirteen states. Use of any tobacco product was more prevalent among persons who were a member of an unmarried couple, (36.3%), single adults (30.3%), and those who were widowed or divorced (29.1%) compared to married persons (21.2%). Polytobacco use was found to be more prevalent among men (4.4%), young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four (5.7%), those who were single (4.8%), those who had a household income of less than $35,000 a year, adults with less than a high school education (3.6%), and those adults with only a high school diploma or GED (3.6%).
Results from this study show that while tobacco control efforts have focused mainly on decreasing the prevalence of cigarette smoking, the use of other tobacco products also needs to be addressed if we are to improve the health of our nation. When we consider any tobacco use, an additional 5% of the adult population in these thirteen states is added to the prevalence rate for tobacco use. Using multiple tobacco products can also have adverse health effects, lead to higher nicotine addiction, and make the tobacco user unable to quit using tobacco. For these reasons, and the fact that youth have higher polytobacco use than adults, prevention and health policy efforts need to be targeted towards all forms of tobacco and not just cigarette use.
Partnership for Prevention, a long standing advocate for evidence-based tobacco cessation policies, believes that tobacco control should be at the top of our health agenda and should involve proven strategies such as public awareness efforts, youth tobacco use prevention, tobacco tax increases, and smoke free air policies that address all forms of tobacco use.
Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Food Companies Commit to Reducing Calories, Teens Thought Smokeless Tobacco Products Were Candy Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week
Food companies committing to take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while teens mistaking smokeless tobacco products for candy was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."
The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.
BEST
Food makers to trim 1.5 trillion calories
Several of the nation's largest food companies say they will take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.
The companies made the announcement through the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers and industry trade associations. They pledged to reduce the calories as part of an agreement with a group of nonprofit organizations concerned with childhood obesity, first lady Michelle Obama said last Monday.
WORST
One out of Three Teens Mistook Smokeless Tobacco Products for Candy
According to a survey administered by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, one out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum. The survey of about 1,400 Virginia residents, including 728 younger than 18, asked them to identify package images for several types of new, smokeless tobacco products, as well as package images of mints and gums. About 39 percent of the respondents younger than 18 identified Camel Orbs, an oral tobacco product that dissolves in the mouth and delivers nicotine to the user, as mints or gum. Of the teenagers younger than 18 surveyed who do not currently use tobacco, 27 percent said they would try Camel Orbs based on packaging alone.
The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.
BEST
Food makers to trim 1.5 trillion calories
Several of the nation's largest food companies say they will take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.
The companies made the announcement through the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers and industry trade associations. They pledged to reduce the calories as part of an agreement with a group of nonprofit organizations concerned with childhood obesity, first lady Michelle Obama said last Monday.
WORST
One out of Three Teens Mistook Smokeless Tobacco Products for Candy
According to a survey administered by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, one out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum. The survey of about 1,400 Virginia residents, including 728 younger than 18, asked them to identify package images for several types of new, smokeless tobacco products, as well as package images of mints and gums. About 39 percent of the respondents younger than 18 identified Camel Orbs, an oral tobacco product that dissolves in the mouth and delivers nicotine to the user, as mints or gum. Of the teenagers younger than 18 surveyed who do not currently use tobacco, 27 percent said they would try Camel Orbs based on packaging alone.
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
One out of Three Teens Mistook Smokeless Tobacco Products for Candy
According to a survey administered by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, one out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum. The survey of about 1,400 Virginia residents, including 728 younger than 18, asked them to identify package images for several types of new, smokeless tobacco products, as well as package images of mints and gums. About 39 percent of the respondents younger than 18 identified Camel Orbs, an oral tobacco product that dissolves in the month and delivers nicotine to the user, as mints or gum. Of the teenagers younger than 18 surveyed who do not currently use tobacco, 27 percent said they would try Camel Orbs based on packaging alone.
Another product identified in the survey was Stonewall, a type of smokeless, pellet tobacco sold by Star Scientific Inc. About 35 percent of the survey respondents 18 or younger perceived Stonewall to be candy, mints or gum. Twenty-three percent said they would try Stonewall because of the packaging.
The survey results suggest that packaging of the products alone may appeal to youth, said Danny Saggese, director of marketing for the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth."It poses a significant risk to youth and raises the possibility of them not only using these products, but using them in places where smoking is now prohibited, and potentially becoming nicotine addicts," he said.
In March 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a rule restricting access and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to youth. The rule becomes effective June 22, 2010 and will require smokeless tobacco products to have warning labels that cover one-third of the front and back of the packages. However, many tobacco prevention groups and government officials believe the FDA should ban smokeless tobacco products altogether. In an April 18th New York Times interview, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon called the products “tobacco candy,” noting that “everything about them is designed for kids.”
Brandi Robinson
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention
Another product identified in the survey was Stonewall, a type of smokeless, pellet tobacco sold by Star Scientific Inc. About 35 percent of the survey respondents 18 or younger perceived Stonewall to be candy, mints or gum. Twenty-three percent said they would try Stonewall because of the packaging.
The survey results suggest that packaging of the products alone may appeal to youth, said Danny Saggese, director of marketing for the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth."It poses a significant risk to youth and raises the possibility of them not only using these products, but using them in places where smoking is now prohibited, and potentially becoming nicotine addicts," he said.
In March 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a rule restricting access and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to youth. The rule becomes effective June 22, 2010 and will require smokeless tobacco products to have warning labels that cover one-third of the front and back of the packages. However, many tobacco prevention groups and government officials believe the FDA should ban smokeless tobacco products altogether. In an April 18th New York Times interview, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon called the products “tobacco candy,” noting that “everything about them is designed for kids.”
Brandi Robinson
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
FDA’s Plans to Lower Sodium Content, the Increase of Smokeless Tobacco Use Among Teens Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week
The Food and Drug Administration’s plans to gradually reduce the amount of salt consumed each day by Americans was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while the rise in use of smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff by teens in recent years was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."
The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.
BEST
FDA poised to save lives by lowering sodium content … It’s about time!
In a page one story in the Washington Post entitled, “FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reason," reporter Lyndsey Layton writes:
“The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.”
The FDA’s involvement is welcome news. For years public health authorities have cautioned Americans to reduce sodium consumption in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke; the nation’s first and third leading causes of death.
WORST
Smokeless tobacco use rising among teens
The use of smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff, by teens has risen in recent years, reversing a trend toward declining use of all tobacco products by teens, Terry Pechacek of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a U.S. congressional panel. He said data to be released in the next few months will show an increase mainly among white and Hispanic young males. Health experts say smokeless tobacco can cause cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and pancreas. Pechacek said the CDC is concerned that high school students perceive smokeless tobacco to be safer than cigarettes.
The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.
BEST
FDA poised to save lives by lowering sodium content … It’s about time!
“The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.”
The FDA’s involvement is welcome news. For years public health authorities have cautioned Americans to reduce sodium consumption in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke; the nation’s first and third leading causes of death.
WORST
Smokeless tobacco use rising among teens
Monday, 19 April 2010
Results from the Adult Tobacco Survey
The April 16, 2010 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report includes data collected by the Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS) during February 2003 – November 2007. Among 33 ATSs conducted in 19 states, current cigarette use by adults ranged from 13.3% (Hawaii in 2006) to 25.4% (West Virginia in 2005), with a median of: 19.2%. Among young adults aged 18-29, current cigarette use ranged from 15.8% (Hawaii in 2006) to 40.4% (West Virginia in 2005), with a median of: 26.7%.
The survey also found that with the exception of smokeless tobacco use and pipe use, the median prevalence of current use of each tobacco product was consistently highest among adults aged 18-24 years and lowest among adults aged ≥65 years. Polytobacco use ¬– current use of multiple tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco or smokeless tobacco – was also explored in the survey. The percentage of adults using two tobacco products ranged from 10.6% (South Carolina in 2007) to 18.6% (Oklahoma in 2004) (median 14.5%). The percentage of adults using three tobacco products ranged from 1.6% (South Carolina in 2007) to 4.6% (Ohio in 2006) (median 2.9%). The percentage of adults using all four tobacco products ranged from 0.0% (Iowa in 2004, Oklahoma in 2004, and South Carolina in 2007) to 0.6% (Georgia in 2004) (median 0.3%).
Adults who were employed for wages or self-employed were asked whether their employer had offered any programs to help them stop smoking or any other types of help to employees who wanted to quit smoking. Among 12 ATSs, the percentage of adults (smokers and nonsmokers combined) who reported that their employer offered any cessation programs ranged from 19.7% (New Mexico in 2003) to 28.6% (South Carolina in 2007) (median: 23.4%). The percentage of current smokers who reported employer-offered smoking cessation programs ranged from 13.5% (Idaho in 2005) to 22.5% (Iowa in 2006) (median: 18.4%).
Based on the results of the survey, CDC recommends that states establish, maintain, and fund comprehensive tobacco control programs, at least at CDC-recommended levels, to reduce tobacco-related deaths and diseases. CDC regularly evaluates the recommended state ATS questions with a goal of more closely aligning the questions with short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcome indicators to measure progress toward National Tobacco Control Program goals.
The Adult Tobacco Survey is a random-digit--dialed telephone survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population aged ≥18 years that collects data on tobacco use, smoking cessation, secondhand smoke exposure, risk perception and social influences, health influences, and tobacco-related policy issues in the United States.
Brandi Robinson
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention
The survey also found that with the exception of smokeless tobacco use and pipe use, the median prevalence of current use of each tobacco product was consistently highest among adults aged 18-24 years and lowest among adults aged ≥65 years. Polytobacco use ¬– current use of multiple tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco or smokeless tobacco – was also explored in the survey. The percentage of adults using two tobacco products ranged from 10.6% (South Carolina in 2007) to 18.6% (Oklahoma in 2004) (median 14.5%). The percentage of adults using three tobacco products ranged from 1.6% (South Carolina in 2007) to 4.6% (Ohio in 2006) (median 2.9%). The percentage of adults using all four tobacco products ranged from 0.0% (Iowa in 2004, Oklahoma in 2004, and South Carolina in 2007) to 0.6% (Georgia in 2004) (median 0.3%).
Adults who were employed for wages or self-employed were asked whether their employer had offered any programs to help them stop smoking or any other types of help to employees who wanted to quit smoking. Among 12 ATSs, the percentage of adults (smokers and nonsmokers combined) who reported that their employer offered any cessation programs ranged from 19.7% (New Mexico in 2003) to 28.6% (South Carolina in 2007) (median: 23.4%). The percentage of current smokers who reported employer-offered smoking cessation programs ranged from 13.5% (Idaho in 2005) to 22.5% (Iowa in 2006) (median: 18.4%).
Based on the results of the survey, CDC recommends that states establish, maintain, and fund comprehensive tobacco control programs, at least at CDC-recommended levels, to reduce tobacco-related deaths and diseases. CDC regularly evaluates the recommended state ATS questions with a goal of more closely aligning the questions with short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcome indicators to measure progress toward National Tobacco Control Program goals.
The Adult Tobacco Survey is a random-digit--dialed telephone survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population aged ≥18 years that collects data on tobacco use, smoking cessation, secondhand smoke exposure, risk perception and social influences, health influences, and tobacco-related policy issues in the United States.
Brandi Robinson
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention
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