Non-smoking message conveyed through local sports

Goshen — According to the Centers for Disease Control, teenagers who participate in sports are less likely to smoke than their peers who do not. The Orange County Department of Health’s “Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program” is working to help teens avoid the onset of smoking, and seeking strategies to market its free cessation programs, available to all Orange County residents. The concept is that sports programs are a good way to reach out to Orange County’s children and help them make important decisions related to physical activity, healthy eating habits and a tobacco-free life. A non-smoking campaign was initiated with the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association, led by Orange-Ulster BOCES athletic coordinator James Osborne, in an effort to reach as many teens and their families as possible. The first venture was to target athletes in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, which have the largest number of young athletes participating, year-long. The department donated a 10 by 20 foot tent to the athletic association that proclaims, “Tobacco and Sports Don’t Mix” and “Health and Sports - The Perfect Match.” A timing device, to be used at all of the county-wide invitationals, and a camera were donated by the health department’s Community Health Outreach Program. The department also supports enforcement of “Reality Check” and “Adolescent Tobacco Use Prevention Act.” For more information, call 568-5238.