Anti-smoking study targets middle schools

AUGUSTA, Ga., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Medical College of Georgia researchers are studying fourth- and fifth-graders and their parents to determine if a smoking-prevention strategy is effective.

Study leader Dr. Martha S. Tingen, nurse researcher at the Medical College of Georgia's Georgia Prevention Institute in Augusta is enrolling 350 students and their parents or guardians -- half the children will get two intense learning sessions per week over four weeks of Life Skills Training.

Children are trained in communication skills, decision-making and assertiveness, while their parents/guardians will get similar instruction as well as additional information on topics such as being a good role model and effective parenting skills.

Tingen said pilot studies in 60 families showed Life Skills Training increased refusal skills and self-esteem, better-equipping kids to say no to a friend's offer of a cigarette.

"Every day in Georgia, 84 kids between 10 to 13 years of age start smoking cigarettes," Tingen said. "Ninety percent of all smokers start before they are out of high school. If we can help keep kids from smoking before they get out of high school, they probably won't ever start."