PHILADELPHIA – Youth from Strawberry Mansion presented findings today at City Hall from a survey examining attitudes and knowledge about smoking and tobacco products that they administered over the summer to their neighborhood peers.
The Get Healthy Philly Summer Youth Tobacco Survey project, made possible by the Mayor’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI), involved ten youth aged 14-18. The youth were hired and trained by Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) staff and a project coordinator to design and administer a survey measuring youth attitudes about tobacco use. During the six-week project held over the summer of 2017, the youth collected 417 surveys from other youth and young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 at local recreation centers, libraries, health fairs and other community gatherings.
“Last summer I learned a ton of useful information regarding tobacco use in the country, but really focusing on the effects that is has in Strawberry Mansion now,” said Makiyah Brown, one of the youth surveyors and a student at Excel Academy North. “When I started learning more, I became more interested in the topic. I also had knowledge that I could pass on to other people. My Grandmom has been smoking for most of her life and my mother is also a smoker, so one of my main goals now is to try and get them to quit because I know about and have seen the harmful effects of smoking.”
Key findings show that a majority of their peers in Strawberry Mansion believe that smoking is a significant health issue, and over 90 percent were exposed to tobacco advertising in their communities over the previous month. However, another finding reflected that 38 percent of the youth surveyed believed that menthol cigarettes are less harmful than non-menthol cigarettes, and an additional 33 percent didn’t know if they are more harmful or less. Over 60 percent believe that menthol products are marketed to African Americans more than any other racial group.
“We know that teens who start smoking with menthols are twice as likely to become regular smokers, and that neighborhoods with more African American residents have much more marketing of mentholated tobacco,” said Dr. Cheryl Bettigole of Get Healthy Philly. “We highly value the information about community knowledge and beliefs about menthol and flavored tobacco collected in this survey process, which can help us to develop effective policies.”
The Mayor’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) dedicated a portion of grant funds received from Living Cities and its Racial Equity Here initiative (REH) to fund the project. REH supports cities and awarded Philadelphia funding in 2016 for efforts to improve racial equity and reduce disparities in health, education and employment. The Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement (OPE) also provided trained the youth on civic engagement skills needed to continue their involvement in health and other issues in their community.
Participating youth were hired and trained by PDPH staff on how to use Microsoft Excel to input the data and analyze the results, and were provided education on tobacco-related health issues. The youth learned community outreach strategies and job skills as a part of this initiative.
“This collaboration presented an innovative opportunity for the City to engage with young people on the development of public health strategies, particularly around racial disparities in tobacco marketing towards adolescents,” said Nefertiri Sickout, ODI. “The youth-driven survey data will be utilized to help promote equity and reduce health disparities, as the City continues to engage with the Strawberry Mansion community to present opportunities necessary for young leaders to flourish.”
Philadelphia continues to have the highest smoking rate of large US cities, and smoking represents a significant health challenge in North Philadelphia, which includes the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. In 2014-2015, 25% of residents in the area around Strawberry Mansion smoked, compared to 16% of residents in Center City and 15% nationally. Smoking rates and smoking-related mortality are particularly high among low-income and African-American residents. Smoking is found to increase the risk for individuals developing cancer and heart disease. Flavored tobacco, including both fruit/candy flavors and menthol, has been found to help drive youth initiation and addiction to tobacco products and contributes to these high rates.
As City Council prepares to hold hearings on flavored tobacco next week, the Health Department continues to work to tackle Philadelphia’s extremely high rates of tobacco-related health disparities.
Get Healthy Philly is the division of chronic disease prevention for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Find out more about what the City is doing to lower tobacco use at smokefreephilly.org.