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Effect of Ending an
Antitobacco Youth
Campaign on Adolescent Susceptibility to Cigarette Smoking — Minnesota,
2002–2003
MMWR Highlights
April 16, 2004 / Vol. 53 / No. 14
Youth Prevention Campaigns
- The
majority of people who become regular cigarette smokers begin smoking
during adolescence.
- Comprehensive state anti-tobacco programs, especially those with strong
advertising (i.e., paid media) campaigns, have contributed to the
substantial decline in youth smoking since 1997.
Study Findings
- In
Minnesota, annual funding for tobacco-control programs was reduced from
$23.7 million to $4.6 million in July 2003, ending the Target Market (TM)
campaign directed at youths since 2000.
- To assess
the effects of cutting the state’s tobacco control funding, during
November–December 2003, a survey of Minnesota adolescents aged 12–17 years
was conducted to determine their awareness of the TM campaign and their
susceptibility to smoking, which is an important predictor of adolescent
tobacco use.
- The
percentage of adolescents who were aware of the TM campaign declined from
84.5 percent during July–August 2003 to 56.5 percent during
November–December 2003, and the percentage of adolescents susceptible to
cigarette smoking increased from 43.3 percent to 52.9 percent.
- Between
the July–August 2003 and November–December 2003 surveys, a related
increase in susceptibility to smoking, from 43.3 percent to 52.9 percent,
occurred among youth in Minnesota.
- These
findings are consistent with data from a previous study in Massachusetts
that documented an increase in illegal tobacco sales to minors following
funding cuts to that state’s antitobacco program.
- The
decline in campaign awareness and increase in adolescent susceptibility in
Minnesota suggest that antitobacco funding cuts could reverse the recent
declines in youth tobacco use.
MMWR — Effect of Ending an Antitobacco
Youth Campaign on Adolescent Susceptibility to Cigarette Smoking —
Minnesota, 2002–2003
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