Prevention Matters

Do we really know what works best when it comes to health promotion? And when we learn what works, are we making sure others know, also? These are some of the questions we explore in this podcast with Michel O'Donnell, PhD, editor of the American Journal of Health Promotion. O'Donnel is also program chair of a March 15 conference on "The Art and Science of Health Promotion," where noted experts will also be addressing these questions. To listen to this podcast click on the media player below. If you don't see a media player below, click here.

The health benefits Americans have gained by reducing their tobacco use are becoming "outweighed" by the negative effects of our growing obesity epidemic, according to a new study. The study, led by Susan Stewart of Harvard University, forecasts the life expectancy for a nationally representative 18-year-old assuming that recent trends in smoking and weight gain continued for the next decade or so.

While continued declines in cigarette smoking would increase the life expectancy of the18-year-old by 0.31 years by 2020, continued increases in BMI would cut life expectancy by 1.02 years over the same period of time. That's an overall net loss in life expectancy 0.71 years.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is a peak time for movie theater attendance and, according to one group, the most recent crop of holiday releases gave tobacco use considerable exposure. Scenesmoking.org, project that routinely rates movies on the extent and type of their tobacco-related content, gave its worst rating - the "black lung" - to five of the top 10 releases on the week of Dec. 28.

"Avatar," "Sherlock Holmes," "The Blind Side," "Nine," and "Did You Hear about the Morgans?" all received "black lung ratings. There was apparently no middle ground for movie-makers, as the rest of the top 10 were deemed "pink lung" movies, which are the group's highest rating. The "pink lung" movies included "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakque," "It's Complicated," "Up in the Air," "The Princess and the Frog," and "Invictus."

Scenesmoking.org is a project of Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails.

The North Carolina smoking ban was only one of many public health laws that took effect across the country on Jan. 1.  Some other examples:


- California became the first state to ban restaurants' use of trans fats in cooking. Initially, restaurants won’t be able to use “oil, shortening, or margarine containing specified trans fats.” In 2011, the bill will expand to prohibit restaurants from serving “any food containing artificial trans fat.” Certain exceptions will apply, and some school cafeterias will be exempt.



- A ban on texting while driving took effect in New Hampshire, Oregon and Illinois. That brings the number of states that ban the practice to 19, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

- Illinois Cancer laws.. A new Illinois law requires health class curricula to include information on cancer risk factors, prevention and early detection. 2010 also brings new cancer screenings as a component of Illinois school sports physicals.

- Retailers may only sell cigarettes that extinguish themselves if left unattended, thanks to laws passed in  Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Fire-safe cigarette laws will also take effect in Mississippi, Ohio and South Dakota by the first week of 2011. Wyoming is the only state that hasn't passed such a law, according to the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes.

- A new Arkansas law requires health insurance policies to cover prostate cancer screenings and treatment for men at least 40 years old.

- A new law in Maryland requires the provision of substance abuse benefits to people under the Maryland Medical Assistance Program.


- In Texas, teens who use tanning beds must be accompanied by an adult or bring signed permission slips, while new college students who want to live on campus must prove they have been vaccinated against bacterial meningitis.

- A Tennessee law seeks to help prevent the accidental or intentional poisoning of people, pets and other animals as a result of ingesting antifreeze or engine coolants. The law requires manufacturers to add a bittering agent. Without it, antifreeze has a sweet aroma and flavor.Ethylene glycol, a key ingredient in antifreeze, is toxic to humans and animals.

- Illinois health care institutions are banned from flushing medications into public sewer systems or septic systems, except those in intravenous fluids, syringes and transdermal patches. designed to reduce the amount of prescription medications found in local water supplies.

- Wisconsin will start work on an environmental quality  protocol for schools.  A new law requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to convene a task force to develop a model management plan for indoor environmental quality in public and private schools.

- Oregon will require children under age 16 to wear a seat belt on any ATV or vehicle on public property, and will increase the fine for people riding a motorcycle without a helmet to $720.

• In Texas, smoke detectors will need to be able to alert a hearing-impaired person if requested by a tenant. 

Anybody else notice that a recent Arctic blast hit the mid-Atlantic region just about the same time that the statewide smoking ban in North Carolina restaurants and bars took effect on Jan. 1?  Is it a sign that perhaps another place with an even warmer climate froze over? Given that North Carolina is the country's largest tobacco-producing state, few probably would be surprised.

"Even as recently as a decade ago, this was unthinkable," Ferrel Guillory, a professor and political expert at UNC Chapel Hill, told the Charlotte Observer. The new law imposes a fine of up to $50 for smoking inside bars and restaurants and $200 for business owners who permit smoking.

Some bars and restaurants have expanded their patio options to allow smoking outdoors, while others are getting around the ban by choosing to operate as a private club. But others embraced the change enthusiastically. “We expect a 15 to 20 percent increase in business,” Doug Jones, who owns Fishers Grille in downtown Greensboro, told the Greensboro News-Record. “We’ve had people say they’d bring their families if it weren’t for the smoke.”