Tobacco and Nutrition

[D. Johnson]

Here's the compilation of responses that were sent in to my query about
public health approaches to the isssues of tobacco and nutrition last
year:

Summary of Replies to Question about Public Health 
Nutrition Activities in Relation to Tobacco Initiatives

Thank you all for your replies to our query about 
what initiatives are in place for nutrition in 
tobacco prevention and cessation.  As promised here 
is a compilation of the information that was sent to me as well as a brief bibliography of web resources.


Information about nutrition and smoking sent by 
Laurie Wadsworth, PhD St. 
Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS:  When working in public health, I worked on a project with the health curriculum developers for middle 
years and senior years for the province.  We were 
using tobacco and weight issues as starting points for starting discussions about body image and self-
esteem in young Women.  CADI was also involved in this project.  There has been some research 
to indicate that tobacco use by women is increasing 
as a way to maintain weight, though the validity of this belief is in question.  It does seem to affect appetite, even if it may or may not affect metabolic rate. There has also been some interesting research looking at tobacco use and exposure to ETS and 
breastfeeding -- it seems from a study done at 
University of Calgary, that otitis media admission rates increased with ETS exposure REGARDLESS of whether babes were breastfed or not.  That would be 
interesting to replicate elsewhere.  Also, tobacco use and exposure is likely a lifestyle indicator of who is likely to choose to breastfeed.
 
With the transferable skills developed by community 
nutritionists, tobacco reduction strategies seem to be a good fit.  Many nutritionists in Saskatchewan are working in larger health promotion areas, and tobacco is one of these main areas.
 

Elizabeth Mansfield, MSc, RD sent the following 
information:
Here at the Region of Ottawa Carleton HealthDepartment we have a tobacco
information group that works closely with the public 
health nutritionists.
One area of concern that has been re-addressed of 
late is the concern of
Quitting smoking and Weight Gain. We run a Quitting 
Smoking contest each
year for the month of March and one of the key 
concerns of women is weight
gain - and this is often the reason for relapse.  
They are also unaware of
what appropriate portion sizes are, they have 
trouble with snacking
behavior, and they are often complaining of being 
hungry/binge eating. With
this in mind we have developed a fact sheet 
containing activity and eating
guidelines for avoiding weight gain when quitting 
smoking.
 
Monika M. Woolsey, M.S., R.D wrote:  I work mainly with adolescents with
eating disorders.  The program I use, teens and Diets No Weigh by HUGS
International, Inc., devotes its whole first unit to the relationship
between tobacco and eating.  Several school districts here in Arizona have
indicated an interest in adopting this curriculum because (1) they can use
their tobacco tax money to pay for it and (2) it addresses two important
issues with one curriculum.  You can find it at www.hugs.com.

And from Julianne Seiber in Minnesota: We're looking into exactly the same
issue.  Our health department is going to receive funds from Minnesota's
tobacco settlement and I had exactly the same idea.  I have a graduate
student looking into the literature and I'll let you know what we find.  
I'm guessing that it maybe in the psychology literature and not nutrition
and related to body image, etc.
 



Morissa Miller, RD, MPH:  In Arizona, we have a pilot project at 4 WIC
sites.  Our goal is to increase smoking cessation during pregnancy and
prevent relapse up to 6 months postpartum.  We are using tobacco tax money
to train and reinforce WIC counselors to collect data on tobacco use, use
the brief intervention model and stages of change to encourage cessation,
a hot-line and local tobacco cessation programs for more intensive
counseling, and incentives.

Web sites:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/tobaccoreduction/ :  
Tobacco Reduction: 
Comprehensive site from Health Canada. 

http://www.hc- sc.gc.ca/hppb/tobaccoreduction/women.html :  Women and
Smoking:  Part of the Canadian site that deserves special attention.  
Contains several publications available in PDF format that deal with
issues of teens and older women including;

Cigarette Smoking and Young Women's Presentation of Self :  Much previous
research has suggested that young women in North America are highly valued
for their appearance. This study explores both the role and the impact of
smoking in the self-presentation behaviours of young women, particularly
as they relate to body image and self-conception

Women and Smoking Cessation: This report contains three sections: 1) a
secondary analysis of recent national survey data to examine trends and
patterns in smoking among women. 2) a review of relevant literature
focusing on the different influences on smoking cessation and various
cessation methods.  3) a report of a qualitative focus group study
investigating issues related to women and smoking cessation.

www.health.org/gpower:  The MCHB supported Girl Power Initiative has good
information on self esteem and data on tobacco use.  I didn't find direct
information on smoking prevention/cessation and nutrition.

Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program:  On line help for Tobacco cessation
that includes very brief advice about weight control and quitting:  
http://www.quitnet.org/

Sites with links to other nutrition and tobacco sites:  National Media
Education Conference site (www.nmec.org or .com) and the Center for Media
Education (www.cme.org/cme)


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Donna B. Johnson, RD, PhD
Acting Assistant Professor, Nutritional Sciences
Nutritionist, Pediatric Pulmonary Center
University of Washington
Box 353410
Seattle, WA  98195
Phone (206)685-1068
FAX   (206)685-1696
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