Youth program warns of dangers of tobacco use
At the Sunset Community Health Center’s Family Wellness and Resource Fair on Saturday, a sign hung atop one of the booths that read, “On average, Yuma County Youth try tobacco for the first time at 12 years old.”
For Kofa High School senior Jacqueline Johnson as well as other young members of the Ridding Yuma Youth of Tobacco (R.Y.Y.O.T.) program, that statistic, which they say is derived from a 2014 Arizona Youth Survey, is unacceptable. Thus, it is the group’s mission to encourage youth to be tobacco-free.
“I feel it’s important to spread the effects of tobacco and give awareness to it because there are so many people that are uneducated,” Johnson said. “They can use this (information) to help promote a better life for not only themselves, but their kids so their kids can be informed. This new generation that we have can grow up healthier, stronger and more informed.”
The health fair took place at the Fourth Avenue Junior High gymnasium from morning to about 1 p.m.
During that time, members of the R.Y.Y.O.T group put forth efforts to engage audiences in an educational scavenger hunt, present a large-scale visual demonstration of the many hazardous chemicals found in tobacco products, share displays that reflect the realities of how tobacco use and secondhand smoke affect both users and non-users as well as spread education on the tobacco industry’s “deceptive marketing,” the Yuma County Public Health Services District news release showed.
The efforts were a part of Kicks Butts Day, a na- tional celebration of youth activism sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids that “empowers young people to stand out, speak up and educate the community about the harmful effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke,” the release stated.
Youth members of the R.Y.Y.O.T. group aim to educate both the community and local leaders about the harmful effects of tobacco
and secondhand smoke, so they may better understand the associated issues, said Anhel Centeno, Yuma County Public Health Services District Program Coordinator for the Tobacco Use Prevention Program.
“Today, the health department as well as R.Y.Y.O.T. are here at this health fair to just kind of go over the health effects of tobacco products such as cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and inform the public — and especially the youth — about the dangers of tobacco and to help prevent further tobacco use,” Johnson said.
“We are also here to talk about Tobacco 21, which is an initiative to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21-years-old,” Johnson added. “This is so that the future of this country is not getting involved in tobacco at a younger age and so that when they are making the conscious decision, they know the facts. They are aware of what could happen because they are an adult and they are older.”
Members of the R.Y.Y.O.T. say that 200 cities and countries in 15 states have enacted statewide laws raising the tobacco age to 21 including all of California and Hawaii.
Over 80 percent of adult smokers smoked their first cigarette before they turned 18, and nearly 95 percent before age 21, ac- cording to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Additionally, Centeno says that the Arizona youth tobacco rate is at 10 percent, the Yuma adult tobacco rate is at 12.1 percent and the Arizona adult tobacco rate is at 14 percent. R.Y.Y.O.T. members noted tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing more than 480,000 people every year.
For more information on the Yuma County Public Health Services District Tobacco Use Prevention Program, call (928) 317-4580.