Parenting is a potentially powerful intervention to youth tobacco use, but one that is inherently difficult for public health professionals. Most parents are reluctant to believe their children will become smokers, especially parents of younger children (age 7-11). The feedback is simple at this impressionable stage: Kids say "yucky" or "it's bad for me." Yet, these same children will soon seek more autonomy.. Then, thrust before them will be that first cigarette – an alluring symbol of coolness and rebellion. Earlier research indicated parents can prepare their children for this moment by developing closer relationships. The problem, illuminated in this session, is that those relationships take time – in fact, they typically begin before a parent sees the risk coming. In this session, staff from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office on Smoking and Health and the Academy for Educational Development will: analayze the research on parenting and tobacco use; discuss the health disparities resulting from parenting styles; and discuss their effort to help public health professionals encourage better parenting as an intervention to youth tobacco use. At the session's conclusion, participants will be able to: discuss the major issues surrounding parenting and youth tobacco use; identify four parenting practices that can influence a child's ability to resist tobacco; list three major barriers to these parenting practices; identify a key benefit, from the parents standpoint, of engaging in these practices; apply the parenting interventions developed by the CDC to a tobacco control program to different audiences in their own communities.
Learning Objectives: Learning objectives. At the end of this session, participants will be able to: • Discuss the major issues surrounding parenting and youth tobacco use; • Identify four parenting practices that can influence a child's ability to resist tobacco; • List three major barriers to these parenting practices; • Identify a key benefit, from the parents standpoint, of engaging in these practices; • Apply the parenting interventions developed by the CDC to a tobacco control program addressing different audiences in their own communities
Keywords: Tobacco Control, Family Involvement
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I work for the CDC. However, I have no financial gain relative to the use of thse products.