News and Events

Results of the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey Reveal Progress in Gilchrist County, Florida
By Barry Hummel, Jr., MD, Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation

The results of the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) were released in November, 2010, and those results reveal the success of tobacco prevention efforts in Gilchrist County, Florida over the last two years.

The FYTS has been conducted annually since 2000 to monitor trends in youth tobacco use throughout the State of Florida.  During every-other-odd-year, statewide data is collected; during every-other-even-year, the FYTS is expanded to collect county-specific data.  This allows for analysis of local trends, as well as comparisons among the counties to identify specific successes or problem areas.

The 2010 results are particularly important in Gilchrist County.  Prior to the 2008 FYTS, there had been no specific funding for tobacco prevention programs in Gilchrist County since 2003.  The 2010 FYTS results reflect the return of funding for such programs beginning in the spring of 2008.

Unfortunately, the middle schools in Gilchrist County did not participate in the 2008 survey, making it difficult to compare differences in those two-year trends.

Figure 1


Figure 1 shows results from the 2008 and 2010 FYTS for use of all form of tobacco by Gilchrist County Youth.  In 2008, prior to funding for tobacco prevention efforts, Gilchrist County high school students fell behind the state averages.  For example, there was a 6.3% decrease in all forms of tobacco use among Florida High School Students; during the same time period, there was a 19.9 % increase in tobacco use among Gilchrist County high school students.

Once the funding for prevention programs was restored in Gilchrist County, this trend was reversed.  While there was a mere 0.9% drop in tobacco use reported statewide among Florida High School Students from 2008 to 2010, Gilchrist County saw a 16.1% drop in high school tobacco use over the same time frame.

Again, similar comparisons cannot be made for Gilchrist County middle school youth.  However, in 2006, 22.5% of middle school students reported using any form of tobacco; by 2010, that number had dropped to 13.1%, an overall reduction of 41.7%!
These trends were also demonstrated when separating out the different types of tobacco.  During the two years of renewed funding, there were decreases in cigar and smokeless tobacco use among Gilchrist County high school students that exceeded the state average over the same period of time.  Oddly, during the same time period Gilchrist County high school students actually reported increased use of cigarettes.

Figure 2


Figure 2 shows the comparison between 2008 (pre-funding) and 2010 (renewed funding) for cigarette use among Gilchrist County students.  In 2008, high school students reported an 8.2% increase in cigarette use compared to a 6.35% drop statewide.  In 2010, the results were very similar; Gilchrist County high school students reported a 10.1% increase in cigarette use, compared to a 9.7% drop statewide.  There is no local data to account for this increase.

Again, because of the lack of data for Gilchrist County middle school youth in 2008, we can only look at the change over the entire four years.  In 2006, 12.9% of Gilchrist County middle school students reported using cigarettes; by 2010, just 7.7% of Gilchrist County middle school students used cigarettes.  This represents an overall decrease in cigarette use between 2006 and 2010 among Gilchrist County middle school youth from of 40.3%! 

Figure 3


Figure 3 shows the comparison for cigar use among Gilchrist County Students.  As with cigarettes, the 2008 data reveals a dramatic increase in cigar use among Gilchrist County high school students. However, in contrast to cigarette use, the 2010 data reveals that Gilchrist County high school students reported a 2.7 decrease in cigar use compared to a 7.4% increase statewide over the same time period.

Again, because of the lack of data for Gilchrist County middle school youth in 2008, we can only look at the change in cigar use over the entire four years.  In 2006, 5.9% of Gilchrist County middle school students reported using cigars; by 2010, just 2.3% of Gilchrist County middle school students used cigars.  This represents an overall decrease in cigar use between 2006 and 2010 among Gilchrist County middle school youth from of 61%!

Figure 4


Finally, Figure 4 reveals the comparison for smokeless tobacco use.  This data is becoming increasingly important because of a recent push by major tobacco companies to move into the smokeless market with new products such as snus.  The 2008 data showed a 32.3% increase in smokeless use among Gilchrist County high school students; during the same time period, there was no change in smokeless tobacco use among high school students statewide.  In stark contrast, the 2010 data reveals that Gilchrist County high school reduced their use of smokeless tobacco use by 16.7%, compared to a 6.7% increase in smokeless tobacco use among all Florida high school students!

In 2006, 12.8% of Gilchrist County middle school students reported using smokeless tobacco.  This had fallen to 6.4% by 2010, a 50% reduction over the entire four years.  The missing data from 2008 does not allow us to make any statements as to the impact of the renewed tobacco prevention funding in Gilchrist County beginning in 2008.
    
Another area of focus of the Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Program is youth secondhand smoke exposure.  The health effects of secondhand smoke are well established, and the United States Surgeon General has stated that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.  Reducing youth exposure to secondhand smoke is difficult, because most secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the homes and cars of family members and friends.  However, 14% of Gilchrist County middle school students and 17% of Gilchrist County high school students report exposure to secondhand smoke by strangers; this type of exposure occurs in public places or on the job.

Figure 5


Figure 5 reveals the comparison for secondhand smoke exposure among Gilchrist County high school youth when compared to all Florida high school students.  From 2006 to 2008, there was a 3.7% increase in secondhand smoke exposure among Gilchrist County high school students, compared to an 8.3% decrease among that age group statewide.  After the funding was restored in Gilchrist County, high school youth reported a 7.5% decrease in secondhand smoke exposure compared to an 8.2% reduction among high school students statewide.  The represents a huge change within Gilchrist County during a period of time in which the relative rate of decrease statewide remained stagnant.

Middle school students in Gilchrist County reported an 11.2% drop in secondhand smoke exposure between 2006 and 2010; the lack of 2008 data once again makes it difficult to analyze the impact of the renewed funding. 

The reduction of secondhand smoke exposure in Gilchrist County is likely the result of educating a population that was previously under-informed on the risks. However, the inability to make dramatic reductions in secondhand smoke exposure statewide may reflect the fact that it has been increasingly difficult to educate adult smokers about the issue of smoking around children and teens.  It almost seems as if many adults are tuning out this information.  Because most secondhand smoke exposure occurs in the homes and cars of family and friends, this is a major hurdle to reducing youth exposure to secondhand smoke.

Another problem is the restriction to enacting local laws to reduce secondhand smoke exposure in public places.  The current Florida Clean Indoor Air Act preempts local governments from enacting such laws, which prevents Gilchrist County from creating smoke-free parks.  Such laws would reduce secondhand smoke exposure in locations frequently visited by youth.

A large component of the Gilchrist County Tobacco Prevention Program is youth outreach.  The Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation is convinced that the return of these programs over the last two years accounts for the overall decrease in youth tobacco use in Gilchrist County demonstrated in the 2010 FYTS.
The Gilchrist County Youth Prevention Programs consist of a combination of school-based educational programs and funding of the Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) program in Gilchrist County schools and local 4-H Clubs.

Figures 6 and 7 show the expansion of youth outreach programs over the last two years. 

Figure 6


Figure 6 reveals that the percentage of Gilchrist County high school students reporting that they received any tobacco prevention education has increased by 12.1%, compared to a decrease statewide of 6.3%; similarly, in 2006, 49.1% of middle school students report that they received any tobacco prevention education; that number rose to 93.6% of all middle school students by 2010!  Again, the missing 2008 data make it impossible to evaluate those numbers before and after the renewed funding, but it seems reasonable to assume that the increase is a direct result of funding these youth outreach programs.

Figure 7


Figure 7 looks at comprehensive tobacco prevention programs.  This data reveals that Gilchrist County excels in this category.  Gilchrist County high school students report a 6.1% decrease in the number receiving comprehensive prevention education, which is still better than the 14.0% drop reported statewide.  The best explanation is that the primary high school outreach program, SmokeScreeners, is not really a comprehensive tobacco prevention program; as a result, we saw a sharp increase in the number of high school students reporting participation in the category of any tobacco prevention program.

Among Gilchrist County middle school students, there was a 785% increase in participation in comprehensive tobacco prevention programs between 2006 and 2010.
  That is not a typographical error; in 2006, only 3.4% of Gilchrist County middle school students participated in comprehensive programs, compared to 30.1% in 2010. 
Again the missing 2008 data limits our ability to assess whether this dramatic increase took place before or after the renewed funding became available.

You may ask yourself why there is such a dramatic difference in tobacco prevention programming between Gilchrist County and Florida as a whole.  Quite simply, the focus of the tobacco prevention programs has changed over the last year, with more focus on local changes in tobacco policies.  Many tobacco prevention programs have been forced to use their limited resources to focus on policy change, decreasing their outreach programs.  The Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation elected to continue its outreach efforts in addition to the required policy change initiatives.  It is our belief that our continuing commitment to outreach programs is reflected in the results of the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.

For additional information on the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey, visit http://www.doh.state.fl.us/disease_ctrl/epi/Chronic_Disease/FYTS/Intro.htm, or contact the Quit Doc Research and Education Foundation at 866-355-7848.