UNF project 'Building alliances and taking action to create a generation of tobacco free children and youth'

 

A key objective of this project is to provide evidence for action to address tobacco-related problems affecting children and adolescents in developing countries. The first phase synthesized the existing evidence from participating countries to establish the research-based evidence. Reports from the selected countries (Brazil, the People’s Republic of China, India, Oman, Poland and South Africa) provide overwhelming evidence of the steady rise of smoking rates among youth worldwide and the harmful effects of tobacco smoke on children (1).

 

Presently the project supports the implementation and evaluation of tobacco control methods and tools developed at the country level in Brazil and Oman. Intervention studies have been developed based on the previously collected evidence. TFI has encouraged the project coordinators to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education so that the efforts are more likely to be sustained.

The pilot studies are:

• Intervention study on smoking, diet and physical activity in school-age adolescents in Pelotas, Southern Brazil.

• Intervention study to support children and adolescents by increasing their knowledge about different aspects of tobacco use, including how tobacco companies target youth and glamorise its use, in Oman.