What to Know About the FDA's Anti-Smoking Campaign
"The Real Cost" educates at-risk youth about smoking harms.
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“The Real Cost” - In February, the FDA launched an anti-smoking campaign targeting youth who are at risk of becoming addicted to cigarettes. “The Real Cost” approach educates teens about the effect smoking has on their bodies. Kathy Crosby, director of the Office of Health Communication and Education in the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, discussed aspects of the campaign and how it was developed. — Natelege Whaley (@Nateiege) (Photo: Francesca Yorke/Getty Images)
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Why Target At-Risk Youth? - "We know nine out of 10 addicted adult smokers started before the age of 18 and that's a startling fact," said Crosby. She added that 3,200 kids each day smoke their first cigarette. "Although we'd like to think that the problem is solved we can't not try to give them the knowledge they need to allow them to have healthier outcomes in their life." (Photo Illustration: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
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10 Million At-Risk Youth - Although roughly 55 percent of all 12- to 17-year-olds have made the decision to never interact with tobacco, there remains 40 percent of kids (10 million) who do try it. "[They are] either at an immediate risk for initiation like one party away or already experimenting socially. It's these kids we're trying to reach and really disrupt their current thinking so that they stop using the product before they become addicted.” (photo:Getty Images)
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African-American Youth - Of the 10 million youth targeted for the message, Crosby estimates that a million and a half African-Americans are identified as being at-risk. "We were really specific in the research that we did that we were over sampling all multicultural audiences that we think we developed a message that's relevant no matter the race you are.” (Photo: Marie-Reine Mattera/Getty Images)
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“At-Risk” Teens Are Most Vulnerable - At-risk teens tend to have already led troubled lives and are at risk for other risky behavior such as drug use and partaking in unprotected sex. They often live in lower socio-economic homes and may have only one parent in the household holding multiple jobs, according to Crosby. Also these teens are surrounded by smokers and the people making them more likely to pick up the habit. (Photo Illustration: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
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Two Campaigns to Educate Youth - The FDA is shelling out two campaigns on the radio, television, Internet and in print ads. One focuses on health risk. One ad shows a teen asking for cigarettes in a store and in exchange for the pack they have to peel off a piece of their skin. "The focus is really on their appeal and their appearance." (Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images)
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An Unhealthy Relationship - "We have a separate campaign that is really focusing on the loss of control due to an unhealthy relationship. In this case the relationship that you're being controlled by is tobacco. And so we found through the research that these are two very relevant ways to reach at-risk youth and help them think differently towards tobacco products." (Photo: coutesy FDA/Therealcost.gov)
Photo By Photo: coutesy FDA/Therealcost.gov
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Social Media Creates Peer-to-Peer Environment - Through the Real Cost’s Facebook page, the FDA is able to provide a forum for teens to encourage each other to put down cigarettes. "We’re getting awesome engagement from kids and other kids are writing in. And so from a peer-to-peer standpoint, it's exactly what we'd hope would happen, where kids can get encouragement from other teens their age who are already interacting with us," he said. (Photo: US Food and Drug Administration)