FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2007
American Academy of Family Physicians
800-274-2237
Fourth- and fifth-grade students visit Capitol Hill to voice support for anti-tobacco legislation
WASHINGTON - Zane Belden, a fifth-grader from Queensbury, New York, was named the 2007 Tar Wars National Poster Contest winner at a ceremony in Washington, DC, on Monday, July 16. As the national poster contest winner, Belden receives a family trip to Disney World worth up to $3,000.
Tar Wars is a tobacco-free education program that discourages tobacco use among the country's youth. The program, which was established in 1988, is administered by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
In addition to Belden, three runners-up, six honorable mentions, and the state winners were recognized at the awards ceremony. All state winners in attendance at the awards ceremony received a prize packet and a savings bond.
Runners-up
Second place: Broderick Rutan, Lafayette, TN
Third Place: Megan McCoy, Clinton, IN
Fourth place: Emily Osborne, Roaring Gap, NC
Honorable Mentions
Fifth place: Rebekah Krogseng, Nikiski, AK
Sixth place: Brit Shuck, Seiling, OK
Seventh place: Derek Gorthy, Colorodo Springs, CO
Eighth place: Sydney Inouye, Honolulu, HI
Ninth place: Kirsten Caughey, Westfield, NJ
Tenth place: Helena Castro, Providence, RI
The winning posters were chosen from 41 entries, all winners of state Tar Wars poster contests. Posters were judged on their artistry, creativity, originality and their ability to communicate a clear and positive message about being tobacco free.
This year's awards ceremony boasted a record 175 attendees, including 39 state poster contest winners. All of the students will meet with their state congressional leaders at the Capitol this week and voice their support for anti-tobacco legislation.
One particular piece of pending legislation - the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (S 625/HR 1108) - would give the FDA the necessary tools and resources to effectively regulate the manufacturing, marketing, labeling, distribution and sale of tobacco products to protect the public health.
Thousands of family physicians and health care professionals across the country present Tar Wars programs to fourth- and fifth-graders in their local schools every year. They discuss not only the long-term effects of smoking on the body, but also focus on the short-term, image-based effects of tobacco use.
Counteracting the messages created in tobacco advertising, health care professionals talk with youth about how tobacco makes one's breath smell and how smoking can impair one's ability to be active and play sports. The students also learn about practical issues, such as how much it costs to use tobacco for a week, a month, a year and over a lifetime.
The follow-up Tar Wars poster contest encourages children to create posters that emphasize the positive aspects of not using tobacco.
Tar Wars was developed in 1988 by Jeff Cain, MD, and Glenna Pember of the Hall of Life at the Denver Museum of Natural History and Doctors Ought to Care (DOC). The AAFP has overseen the program since 1997. The program has been implemented in all 50 states, several territories and internationally, and it has reached more than 7 million children.
If you would like to interview one of the students or one of the family physicians who presents the Tar Wars program, please call 800-274-2237.
American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 94,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.
Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 207 million office visits each year – nearly 62 million more than the next medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved and rural populations.
In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home.html.
