More than 3.6 million kids smoke cigarettes
The fight against youth
tobacco use was accelerated today by Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, with the release of the Surgeon General’s Report,
Preventing tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report details the scope, health consequences and influences that lead to youth
tobacco use and proven strategies that prevent its use.
To help communicate the report findings and steps every American can take to join the fight against youth tobacco use, the surgeon general also unveiled a guide with practical information on addressing tobacco use in young people,
Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We Can Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health will launch the Surgeon General’s Video Challenge to engage youth and young adults in developing original videos that feature one or more of the report’s findings. More information can be found at
The central platform for crowdsourcing US Government challenges, contests, competitions and open innovation prizes | Challenge.gov.
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death, killing more than 1,200 Americans every day. For every tobacco-related death two new young people under the age of 26 become regular smokers. Nearly 90 percent of these replacement smokers try their first cigarette by age 18. Approximately 3 out of 4 high school smokers continue to smoke well into adulthood.
“Targeted marketing encourages more young people to take up this deadly addiction every day,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “This administration is committed to doing everything we can to prevent our children from using tobacco.”
