Healthcare

Health Promotion Chairperson: Mary Lou Mathias
Reach Out and Read, Bullying Workshop, Shape Up for Life Challenge

48 students received certificates and prizes June 1, 2008 for participating in Health Careers Program.
2008 fall term call-in registration is Wednesday, September 24, 2008 starting at 5:30 am. Contact Debi Peters, Volunteer Coordinator, Hurley Medical Center, 810-257-9152.

Today the AMA Alliance warned parents nationwide of yet another Hollywood film that exposes underage audiences to unnecessary smoking: Universal Studios’ “The Incredible Hulk” (PG-13) which opens June 13 and is one of the summer’s most anticipated movies. The film is a follow-up to 2003’s “Hulk,” which was also PG-13 but did not contain tobacco imagery. General Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ro ss is a character who did not smoke at all during his appearances in the first film, but he is shown puffing on a cigar in nearly every scene in this sequel. Please read the attached press release for more information.

Take action TODAY and write a letter to the editor of your local paper. I have attached draft letters to the editor that you can personalize and send in to your local newspapers. Some of the letters to the editor can be in response to local pick-up of any stories related to our campaign to specifically react to, including Friday reviews of the movie.

Also use our national press gained from this to solicit online petition signatures from your family and friends by sending them this link: http://www.screenout.org/petition/index.html.

Please submit a letter and get our voice out loud and clear that we will not allow Hollywood to continuing pushing smoking on our nation's kids!

Movies Influence Half of All New Teen Smokers to Start Smoking

Experts estimate that movies with tobacco imagery influence half of all new teen smokers to start smoking. This means that Hollywood recruits approximately 390,000 new youth smokers each year, nearly enough to replace all of the smokers the tobacco industry kills on a yearly basis.1 Movies are used to both promote tobacco brands and to “advertise” the acceptability of the act of smoking. Most Prevention Network News readers will recognize this as one form of “product placement” that they have been talking about in the context of media literacy for several years. It is an increasingly common form of promotion for many kinds of products. Tobacco promotion in movies and its effects include:

Ø Current movie heroes are three to four times more likely to smoke than are people in real life.

Ø Young people in the United States watch an average of three movies a week, which contain an average of five smoking episodes each, adding up to about 15 exposures to smoking a week. Young people may be exposed to more smoking in movies than in real life.

Ø A teen whose favorite star smokes is significantly more likely to be a smoker.

Ø Approximately two-thirds of films seen today show tobacco use, including films that are rated PG or PG-13 and intended for young audiences.

Ø Films depicting tobacco use are increasing and are reinforcing misleading perceptions that smoking is a widespread, socially desirable, and normal behavior, and they fail to convey the long-term consequences of tobacco use.

These facts are taken from the curriculum accompanying a one-hour documentary video called Scene Smoking – Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool that discusses the issue of smoking in film and television.2 This video is suitable for adults and mature high school students and is available from Prevention Network. Parents taking their children to the movies or checking out a DVD for their children to watch do not know whether smoking will appear in the film. The current movie rating system does not prevent children from seeing smoking in movies. About 60 percent of youth exposure to smoking in movies is from G, PG, or PG-13 rated movies. This problem of tobacco in Hollywood has an answer: demand future youth-rated films be tobacco-free and break the ties between the entertainment and tobacco industries. Stan Glantz, Ph.D., professor of medicine at the University of California , San Francisco , led the way when he founded the Smoke Free Movies campaign.

The Smoke Free Movies movement proposes four solutions that the U.S. film industry can implement to change the irresponsible use of tobacco on screen: Rate new movies that portray smoking an “R”; certify no pay-offs; require strong antismoking ads; stop identifying tobacco brands in movies. Following the lead of Dr. Glantz, the New York State Department of Health and the University of California developed “Screen Out!” as the national action program to achieve the solutions of the Smoke Free Movies movement.

In October 2006, the American Legacy Foundation awarded the American Medical Association Alliance a $500,000 grant to mobilize grassroots groups and individuals to demand the four proposed solutions. The goals of the three-year public awareness campaign are:

At the very least, visit www.screenout.org, download a petition, circulate it at work, family events PTSA meeting, temple/ church/mosque, or health fair, book club…you get the idea. Return the filled petition to Mary Lou D. Mathias, volunteer coordinator for the Michigan State Medical Society Alliance, at 5118 Dye Hill Court , Flint , Michigan , 48532 . Mary Lou will count the signatures to track Michigan ’s efforts, and make copies to send to the National Office and the movie industry representatives. Just to give you a little encouragement, Disney has already agreed to take smoking out of all of the movies it produces in the future!

Want to do more than just circulate petitions? Visit www.screenout.org for directions on how to write letters, op Ed pieces for your newspaper, and endorse the Screen Out! Campaign. There is a 20-page resource packet to help you do these and other activities. If you have questions or cannot access web resources you may call Mary Lou at (810) 732-2053 (home number) or Marie Hansen at Prevention Network, 800-968-4968.

1 Dalton MA , Sargent JD, et al. Effect of viewing smoking in movies on adolescent smoking initiation: A cohort study. The Lancet 2003; 362 (9380): 281-85. 2 This documentary film by Terry Maloney was produced by the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails under a grant provided by the California Department of Health Services Tobacco Control Section. The U.S. Center for Disease Control made it available nationwide for a while.

Announcing Shape up for Life (click for details)

We will meet to walk at the Genesys Athletic Club track on Tuesdays at 8:15 a.m. in February and March. Please come and join fellow Alliance members to Shape up for Spring!

Walking is a simple activity with surprising benefits. But avoid these common mistakes, says a walking consultant from BC/BS of Michigan:

Giant steps. Long steps make you land flat-footed, jarring your knee joints and back. Shorter steps mean a smoother stride.

Flying arms. Many people believe extending their arms will increase walking speed. But bending your arms at a right angel offers better speed and balance. Arm swings should be smooth and short.

An uptight body. A lot of us keep our bodies stiff and tight. But relaxed muscles offer a better workout and less joint stress.

Bad posture. Don't slouch. Instead, hold your body straight and tall: head over shoulders, shoulders over torso, torso over hips.

Forty-four new students registered for the Youth Health Careers Volunteer program with Hurley Medical Center on September 17, 2007. Registration occurs in Sept and January of each school
year.