County youth tobacco use prevention efforts win award
At the annual meeting of the North Carolina Chapter of the Society for Public Health Education, the Orange County Youth Tobacco-Use Prevention Program received the Kathy Kerr Outstanding Health Education Project Award, which recognizes public health programs that have successfully implemented outstanding projects in health education. Pam Diggs, program coordinator, accepted the award.
The Orange County Youth Tobacco-Use Prevention Program is a collaborative effort among the Orange County Health Department, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools. With funding from the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund, the program has trained more than 130 students as Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered (TRU) peer educators since 2003. TRU peer educators have reached thousands of youth through Tobacco 101 presentations in schools and at community outreach events by teaching young people about the dangers of tobacco use. Peer educators were instrumental in the smoke-free dining campaign, which led to 90 local businesses adopting smoke-free policies.
Students have also educated non-compliant store merchants about not selling tobacco products to minors. These efforts have contributed to positive health outcomes among Orange County youth.
The number of high school students who have never smoked increased steadily from 54 percent in 2001 to 74 percent in 2006 in Orange County Schools.
“This award is a reminder of the importance of the work that the peer educators do to decrease teen tobacco-use rates,” Diggs said.
