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Invite us to visit your school:
E-mail us at NipIt@memorialhealth.com, or call 350-8527
Give Online
Donate
to the Steve Krissman Lung Fund through the Memorial Health Foundation and help us continue to educate students throughout the region.
The health risks of tobacco use are well known, yet children and teens continue to smoke and use chewing tobacco. In fact, a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that almost 90 percent of adult smokers began smoking before the age of 18 and that 19.5 percent of high school students reported smoking cigarettes within the last month. The CDC also reports that each day, more than 3,500 kids in the United States try their first cigarette.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. We know it contributes to cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Chewing tobacco use can lead to oral cancer, gum disease, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.
About Nip It In the Butt
Nip It In the Butt: Breathing in the Truth about Tobacco was formed to help reduce tobacco-related illness and death by educating students about the dangers of smoking and chewing tobacco. This community project is funded by the Southeast Georgia Cancer Alliance of the Georgia Cancer Coalition, the Coastal Health District, The Children's Hospital at MUMC, and the Anderson Family Fund. Our goal is to educate students ages 5 to 18 in Chatham, Effingham, Liberty, Bryan, Long, McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden counties about the dangers of tobacco use.
During the 2010-2011 school year, we took our anti-tobacco message to more than 27,000 students in 56 different schools. For the 2011-2012 school year, we hope to reach 75,000 students through on-site education.
On-Site Education
Our Nip It In the Butt representative meets with students and provides age-appropriate messages about tobacco use. She shares our award-winning video and hands out coloring books or brochures with additional information. Students get an up-close look at a lung damaged by smoking and see demonstrations of smoking's effect on the skin and tongue. Every student also receives a Nip It silly band to remind them about our important message. After the presentation, students are asked to take our survey below and results our reported back to the Georgia Cancer Coalition.
Innovator Award
In 2011, the Nip It program received the Association of Community Cancer Centers' (ACCC) Innovator Award. This award is given to member programs that exhibit forward-thinking strategic planning, pioneering programs, and tools that can be shared with the greater oncology community.
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Click below to view coloring contest entries from students in our area:
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