HHS HealthBeat (November 21, 2007)

Doing right, not smoking

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat. 

It’s not always easy to be a good kid in a bad neighborhood. But there are good kids – the teens who are active in their schools, communities or churches. And a study finds these teens are more likely to do something else that counts as good – not smoking.

Marc Zimmerman of the University of Michigan found that when he studied about 825 ninth graders in Flint, Michigan.

``Kids in disadvantaged neighborhoods who were involved in church and school activities actually reported less cigarette use.’’ (5 seconds)

Zimmerman has a possible reason:

``The kids who are getting more involved in all these kinds of activities are more likely to realize that maybe smoking isn’t the best thing for them.’’ (7 seconds)

Zimmerman calls it the protective role of prosocial activities.

The study in the American Journal of Public Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008