Smokers encouraged to quit every Monday

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Using the "Stay Quit Monday" concept, smokers can renew their commitment to quit smoking by trying to quit each week, U.S. researchers suggest.

"Stay Quit Monday is perfect for someone like President-elect Barack Obama," Sid Lerner, chairman of the Healthy Monday campaign, says in a statement. "Here's a guy who wants to quit, who's ready to quit, but who's very busy, with a stressful job and who just needs that extra motivational push each week to stay on track."

A report last year from the Institute of Medicine says that "motivating more quit attempts among people who now make none, and more frequent quit attempts among those who now try to quit" is one of five requirements for achieving higher cessation rates, Lerner says.

"We think of Monday as the January of the week," Peggy Neu, president of Healthy Monday said. "Our research indicates that people view Monday as an opportunity for a fresh start and are more likely to start a healthy regimen on Monday than any other day."

Neu says that while stopping smoking is hard, help is available at HealthyMonday.org/stayquit. She also suggests:

-- Checking with the American Cancer Society's Quitline at 1-800-ACS-2345 every week or visit cancer.org.

-- Visit smokefree.gov for expert advice and tools weekly to help stay on track.