UAB Lung Health Center to target youth smoking and vaping with annual award from the ADPH

UAB is combating youth tobacco use with its ninth annual award from the Alabama Department of Public Health. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Lung Health Center has been awarded $100,000 by the Alabama Department of Public Health to implement an educational tobacco prevention program to combat youth smoking and vaping.

The project, titled "Healthy Communities for a Tobacco-Free Future," will focus on middle and high school students in the Birmingham area and is supported by the ADPH Youth Tobacco Prevention Program.

Gabriela Oates, Ph.D., director of Population Health Science at the UAB Lung Health Center, will serve as the principal investigator.

"Approximately 17 percent of high school students and 5 percent of middle school students in the United States report using tobacco products in the past 30 days, with the overwhelming majority of them - 83 percent - reporting use of e-cigarette or vaping devices," Oates said. "Studies have shown that vaping is associated with increased asthma symptoms, pulmonary exacerbations, nicotine addiction, depression and suicidal ideation."

This program will target schools in North Birmingham, Bessemer, Hayden, Homewood and Hoover, promoting smoke-free school policies and conducting in-person educational presentations to youth about the dangers of smoking and vaping. Components will include peer-to-peer anti-vaping activities, advertisements and community events. Point-of-sale assessments will be conducted to better understand the current state of product availability in the community.

Oates says she is honored to lead this award as it begins its ninth consecutive recipient year.

"We are committed to continue working with schools and communities to protect youth from the harms of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes," Oates said.

For more information on the ADPH Youth Tobacco Prevention Program, visit www.alabamapublichealth.gov/tobacco/youth-prevention.html. To get involved with Healthy Communities for a Tobacco-Free Future, please contact Joy Ledvina at [email protected].