High School Athletes Cut Back on Cigarette Use, Increase Smokeless Tobacco Use
While overall tobacco use has seen a decline among high school athletes over the last couple of years, smokeless tobacco use is on the rise. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, athletes have remained less likely to smoke but more likely to use smokeless tobacco than their non-athlete peers.
Research suggests that overall, athletes view smokeless tobacco as a healthier alternative to cigarettes, they may believe it is a way to enhance athletic performance and suggests that it is socially acceptable. In fact, athletes who played on multiple sports teams tend to use smokeless tobacco more.
“Smokeless tobacco is not safe and is associated with increased risk for pancreatic, esophageal, and oral cancers.”
Another important factor is the use of smokeless tobacco among professional athletes who are often-times considered role models by youth.
Some professional athletes, such as World-Series winning pitcher Curt Shilling, have come out against the use of smokeless tobacco. He disclosed he was fighting oral cancer and blamed the disease on smokeless tobacco. In April of this year, he published, A Letter to My Young Self, as a warning to teens.
Dear 16-year-old Curt,
Tomorrow at lunch, a kid is going to dare you to take a dip of Copenhagen. If you say yes, like I did, you’ll be addicted for the rest of your life. Well, the rest of your life up to the point when you are diagnosed with cancer.
I get what you are thinking. You’re 16 – you’re invincible, just like all your buddies. If you were to jump ahead 33 years, you couldn’t write a better dream than the one your life is going to be.
With one exception.
If you say yes tomorrow, you will become addicted to chewing tobacco and you will get mouth cancer.
…
Then my advice is simple. Tomorrow, at lunch, just say no.
Make the right choice,
-Curt
Opportunities exist for development of stronger tobacco control and prevention measures targeting youth athletes including the health risks associated with all forms of tobacco use.
CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH says,” We can do more to protect America’s youth from a lifetime of addiction. Because we know tobacco-free policies in schools and other public recreational areas work, we must take action now so that our children are safe from these toxins.”
For more information on this study, view the article here.
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