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Students “Kick Butts” in Licking County
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03/18/15 LICKING COUNTY, OHIO – Licking County youth are speaking up and taking action against tobacco use by taking part in Kick Butts Day (KBD) March 18. Additionally, the Licking County Health Department’s stand teams and students from the Youth Leadership Council of Licking County (YLC) are hosting a Kick Butts Kickball Tournament to help raise awareness of the negative health impacts of tobacco, and to encourage people to quit.
The event will be held March 26 at 7 p.m. at the Newark YMCA, 470 West Church Street, Newark, Ohio. Admission is free, and geared towards youth, ages 11 – 17, and their families.
The stand teams and YLC students also created anti-tobacco material for the community that residents may see in March in support of Kick Butts Day:
- created a toolkit for elementary teachers to educate students about the dangers of tobacco
- recorded radio commercials airing on WNKO and WCLT
- produced anti-tobacco videos and visuals for social media
- designed an anti-tobacco billboard
Tobacco companies spend more than $24 million per day advertising their products in the U.S., according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. One third of teenage experimentation with tobacco can be attributed to tobacco advertising. Nearly nine out of 10 smokers start before the age of 18, and 98 percent start before the age of 26. Prevention is key. Otherwise, one out of every 13 children alive today will die from smoking, according to the campaign.
Another great way to celebrate Kick Butts Day is to quit using tobacco, or help someone else quit. Quitting at any age is beneficial; the healing process begins within the first 20 minutes of quitting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Licking County residents can call the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line at 1-800-784-8669, or Licking Memorial Health Systems’ Quit for Your Health Program at (740) 348-7848. Residents can also receive free online help at ohio.quitlogix.org. For more information, contact Hilary Requejo at hrequejo@lickingcohealth.org or (740) 349- 6500.
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Funding is provided to the Licking County Health Department by the Ohio Department of Health, Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Program, which is supported by Cooperative Agreement 5U58DP001983-05 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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“The Licking County Health Department serves more than 160,000 citizens in the Licking County General Health District by preventing disease, protecting the environment and promoting healthy lifestyles with a vision of healthy people living in healthy communities.”
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Media Contact: Public Information Officer, LCHD, thaynes@lickingcohealth.org, (740) 349-6488
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