European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A amps Gus Schuettler Peter Jae Gorby Susan Campbell the Hartford courant after seven months of subterfuge Sandie knows better than most How to disguise the acrid smell of a cigarette she Chews cloves. She pops breath mints by the handful. She never smokes in enclosed places where the smoke clings to her hair and clothes even More than it does in the parking lots she normally fancies she leaves her cigarettes with her Best Friend Tracy who started smoking a week before Sandie did and whose parents Are maybe not As Likely to run across a telltale pack. Sandie and Tracy Are 14, and in their parents even suspected that they smoke they d both be grounded until voting age maybe longer. And right now disguising the fact that they smoke seems much More important to them than exploring the effects of their new found habit. Standing in an East Hartford con parking lot Sandie is More anxious to display her latest Talent she just Learned How to blow the smoke out her nose it swirls out just below her delighted eyes Cool huh Sandie and Tracy Are among the estimated 4 million teens who smoke and As teen girls they Are among the fastest growing population of smokers in the country. In a recent american lung association Survey 20 percent of High school senior girls said they smoke regularly a at least one cigarette a Day a compared with 16 percent of the boys while that May not seem a significant Dille rence it s the first time that More girls smoke than boys. While the rest of the population is kicking the habit Young girls Are picking it up Back in 1965, Lor example the lung association says 32 percent of All adult women smoked last year it was 26 5 percent Back in 1965, the association did t even count teen girls the numbers were so Low All this does not Bode Well because it Means the adult smoking population could increase significantly in the next 20 years or so. Another lung association Survey says 90 percent of All smokers Start by age 19. Call it As surgeon general Antonia c. Novello did a Case of the Virginia slims woman Riding off into the Sunset with the Marlboro Man where they grow Oid and wrinkly together yes wrinkly and Long before they re supposed to because while Sandie and Tracy Are busily perfecting their artful Slouch this is what happens to their bodies when the Petite 14-year-Olds Light up a combination of Carbon monoxide and nicotine is sucked into the lungs where the nicotine constricts blood vessels and lessens the lungs ability to expand and contract. So the body gets less blood and oxygen a two vital ingredients in healthy skin and a healthy body. In addition to nicotine and Carbon monoxide each cigarette contains some 4,000 chemicals including Dot a powerful insecticide. Seventy percent of the chemicals have been proved to cause cancer. But a teen like Sandie a who intends to be a cheerleader next year once she gets her jumps Down Pat a does no to tend to think in terms of cancer Down the Road. Long term effects Don t scare the immortal Young so people who come to their schools to discuss emphysema or lung cancer Are usually ignored. What works better is Short term facts such As this one from a University of Utah study girls who smoke and sunbathe increase their chances of premature wrinkling twelve fold. That tends to get their attention says Jean Kilbourne a Boston health activist and lecturer. She knows if she starts talking about 13-year-Olds taking 10 years off their lives by smoking she s going to get a lot of Glassy uninterested stares. Quot they re thinking so what?1 a a Kilbourne says. Quot they Are very much into a this will never happen to  they still believe in their own  she appeals to the teens sense of rebellion. She tells them that if they smoke they Are victims of a $33 billion Industry. Quot that makes them angry Quot she says. She knows what she stalking about. She started when she was 13, continued for 20 years and then proceeded to quit off and on until about nine years ago when she quit for Good Quot i Tell them the older they get the harder it gels to quit Quot Kilbourne says. Laurie Batignani an associate of the american lung association of Connecticut who concentrates on women and smoking says teen girls Are the hardest to reach a partly because they re the ones who believe advertising the most. Quot their first concern about stopping smoking is will i gain weight Quot she says. A study from the veterans administration Harvard medical school and Boston University said that while smokers on average weigh 7 pounds less than their non smoking counterparts they carry More body lat around their waists. And that increases their risk of diabetes and heart disease parents who Are concerned that their children May be smoking can ask them a and expect to get stonewalled. Anti smokers Are up against $3.5 billion spent each year in advertising that shows Young Active and a most important say those who know a thin women with cigarettes perched Between two fingers. A and last year . Reynolds tobacco co s inhouse documents about a new cigarette targeting poorly educated White women were leaked to the press. While other companies Haven t been quite so overt in their marketing there is an emphasis on slim Active and Young models touting the cigarettes in print or in the Case of Camel cigarettes a studly Hal Camel half Man playing volleyball in the Beach or blowing a saxophone in a band. Ask Sandie about these images and she s Quick to respond. Quot the Virginia slims models Are the coolest Quot she says. Quot they Wear the Best clothes and they look great. I done to like the Camel Camel he s weird but he has a Nice hot  the Issue of teen drinking is combated by tougher legislation and local programs such As students against drunk driving and mothers against drunk driving. There also Are alcohol free student clubs and parties and sober ride programs. Its illegal to buy alcohol before age 21. Tobacco on the other hand a which kills More than 125,000 people each year a is sold at Corner vending machines in most states. A few Days ago Batignani says she received a Telephone Call from a distraught Mother whose 9-year-old walked into an area supermarket and bought a Carton of cigarettes. The clerk never questioned the kid just sold him the Carton. Batignani Points to some gains among them the increased number of smoke free work places her organization surveyed 200 Connecticut schools last year half of which were found to be smoke free including teachers lounges or other areas limited to the staff. Quot we weren to sure what to expect Batignani says we thought that was pretty  Sandie s school is smoke free. She usually goes to a nearby grocery parking lot to Light up after school. During the Day she Chews gum or Shell sometimes risk a Quick puff behind the gymnasium Quot but i Don t do that much a she says. Quot Only if i have a Friend who la smoke with me that Way. At least you have someone to be in trouble  the new York times researchers say parents  assume that experimenting with cigarettes is a Normal or harmless part of adolescent development As a Parent you should pay attention cigarette a week Quot said or Robert c. Klesges. An associate professor of psychology and paediatrics at Memphis state University. Quot these children have a very High probability of becoming regular smokers As adults Quot Here Are some suggestions Lor getting a child to quit smoking a or not to Start. A Don t locus on Long term health hazards teen agers feel Invulnerable and have tremendous difficulty imagining the future Quot instead talk about Short term effects such As hindering them in athletics giving them bad breath and turning their Teeth yellow Quot said or Rita y. Cohen an associate professor of psychology at the University of Delaware at Newark who has led smoking prevention and intervention programs for seventh graders. This can be especially powerful with girls who May Start using cigarettes As a Way to feel More socially attractive a find out How Many of your children s friends smoke adolescents tend to dress and act the same As the people they spend time with you May have to encourage your children to hang out with a different group Quot the More of the peer group that a smoking the harder it will be for your children to break the habit Quot Cohen said a Appeal to your teen Ager s sense of righteous indignation adolescents hate to feel manipulated which is Why they will use cigarettes to rebel instead talk to them about How the cigarette companies Are manipulating them through their advertising a keep at it sometimes your children simply Aren t ready to listen to what you have to say Quot Don t assume that one Long lecture about smoking will change your child s behaviour or prevent them from starting Cohen said Quot it s something that s better done in Short bursts Over time and when your child seems receptive Page 14 the stars and stripes tuesday february 1a, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 15