Youth club promotes Great American Smokeout
By Beth Kramer ekramer@stmedianetwork.com November 17, 2011 6:40PM
Smoking Stats
14.3 percent Lake County residents are smokers
More than 46 million Americans smoke
In 2010, 68.8 percent adult smokers in America wanted to quit smoking
In 2010, 52.4 percent American smokers attempted to quit
In 2010, 6.2 percent quit smoking
Sources: Lake County Health Department, American Cancer Society
Article Extras
Updated: January 17, 2012 2:02AM
ZION — Captain America made an appearance at Zion-Benton Township High School Thursday to wrangle student attention to The Great American Smokeout.
It caught the attention of senior Tiffany Swane, 17, who pledged to remain smoke free.
“I don’t want bad lungs. I don’t want cancer — I want to stay healthy,” Swane said.
The school’s Healthy Youth Club offered information to the student body during lunch periods Thursday about The Great American Smokeout, according to Healthy Youth Club board member Eric Miller, a junior at Zion-Benton.
“I just think it’s a good thing to promote avoiding substance abuse and healthy lifestyles,” Miller said. “(Thursday) is the day people are supposed to stop smoking.”
One of the club members dressed up as Captain America to draw attention to the 36th annual Great American Smokeout, Miller said.
Miller is one of 45 Healthy Youth Club members at the high school, according to club co-sponsor Jerry Booth, who teaches business education.
One of the club’s major coups was presenting information that led to Zion passing an ordinance against smoking in parks, Booth said.
“This (Great American Smokeout awareness effort) is part of the goals that we have. We’re just trying to make people more aware and to help promote so that kids can spread the word,” Booth said.
The Great American Smokeout challenges individuals to go 24 hours without smoking. It is held the third Thursday in November.
Thursday held a significant anniversary for one Lake County resident, who asked that her last name be omitted because she is receiving services through Lake County Health Department’s Women’s Residential Services, a treatment program for chemically dependent women.
The Great American Smokeout marked the one-week anniversary that Laura, 29, was completely smoke-free.
“I had actually been wanting to quit for a while. I know it’s affecting my health,” Laura said.
She said she also wanted to set a good example for her 7-year-old daughter. Laura started smoking at 13 because “it seemed cool.”
She said quitting smoking wasn’t as difficult as she thought.
Her cravings and depression went down after about four days of being smoke-free. She used nicotine replacement therapy (the patch).
Depression is a side effect of nicotine withdrawal, according to Jeri Laureano, smoking cessation counselor and continuous quality improvement coordinator for behavioral health services at Lake County Health Department.
She suggested potential smoking quitters find something to distract themselves from the cravings, such as listening to music or starting a hobby.
Laura is part of a pilot program at WRS. The program is not part of Tobacco Free Lake County and tries to empower participants like Laura, Laureano said.
“All we want to do is give information because information gives you power,” Laureano said. “In sessions, we can tell everyone smoking is bad for you
but what are benefits of not smoking, how life would and would not be better without smoking. It really motivates them once they figure it out.”
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