Colorado kids are over-vaped and under-vaccinated.
It’s back to school season, and I know from personal experience that this time can be overwhelming. Your child might be attending a different school, making new friends, or getting used to new teachers. But these are only some of the challenges we will help our kids navigate. Keeping them healthy and safe is a top priority, and there are two major health problems Colorado parents should be paying attention to as they send their kids back to school.
Colorado has the nation’s highest rate of nicotine vaping among teens and the nation’s lowest immunization rate among kindergartners for measles, mumps and rubella. When it comes to our children’s health, we’ve got it backward and we must begin to reverse these trends if we are to create a healthy future.
Somehow my preteen daughter already knows a lot about vaping. If you’re the parent of a teenager, there’s a good chance they have tried vaping themselves or know a peer who vapes. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that talking to your kids about vaping can positively impact their behavior. If you are unsure about how to do that, there are helpful resources online, but here are some quick tips: The earlier you engage the better; be direct; and use actual facts (not just “vaping is bad!”). Let your child know vaping nicotine is not a “safe” alternative to tobacco use, as the devices are just as addictive, they contain toxic substances, and using them results in proven negative effects on your lungs and cardiovascular health. Public health officials have also recently linked vaping devices to a mysterious lung disease that has resulted in deaths.
It’s time we take on the industry intent on hooking another generation of kids on nicotine. Led by well-known brands like Juul, these companies currently sell their nicotine vaping products in Colorado free from the taxes that are applied to cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Research shows that taxing these products is the most effective way to keep them away from kids and next year we will pursue that policy, among others, to reduce youth nicotine use. But you don’t have to wait until January. Earlier this year, we implemented a new law allowing localities to make their own policies to prevent youth from vaping, including raising the age of purchase to 21, implementing a tax, or banning the sale of flavored products that appeal to children. Several cities across the state are now pursuing these changes, and you can contact your city council to encourage them to do the same.
Equally concerning is that Colorado is one of just fifteen states that allow parents to send their children to school without immunizations due to their personal beliefs. Claims about the unintended effects of vaccines, though thoroughly disproven, have caused parents to skip immunizations that protect children from preventable diseases, like measles, mumps, rubella and polio.
I know I’m not the only parent who’s taken their newborn along to drop off their older child at school. Unfortunately, our school has an immunization rate below the threshold for “herd immunity” which essentially means the proportion of people who need to be immunized to effectively limit transmission. As a result, any newborn yet to receive immunizations is at risk for contracting these preventable diseases, as are people with compromised immune systems who are too ill to receive vaccines, such as cancer patients. Come January, we will be working with the state legislature on public policy aimed at improving child immunization rates, and you can contact your legislators to urge their support of these crucial changes.
Like with vaping, there are steps you can take now. You can check your school’s vaccination rate by visiting the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website. Through the efforts of organizations like Healthier Colorado, the state is now required to make this data easily accessible.
Parenting is no easy task and it’s common to feel things are not in your control. But when we understand the challenges and recognize solutions, we can make a positive difference for our kids.