Damyang-gun Conducts 'Smoking and Drinking Harm Prevention Education' for Children and Adolescents

[Damyang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Jeonnam Damyang-gun (Governor Choi Hyung-sik) announced on the 19th that it has been conducting education to prevent smoking and drinking harms for children and adolescents in the area since this month.

Smoking during adolescence occurs when physical growth and development are not yet complete, increasing the likelihood of disease occurrence and greatly affecting the incidence of diseases in adulthood. Therefore, early smoking prevention education is essential to block smoking initiation during growth and to promote a healthy life.

The county is providing 26 sessions of education tailored to the level of children and adolescents at 16 schools with about 1,600 participants until next month, informing them about the dangers of alcohol and tobacco, as well as the misunderstandings and truths about electronic cigarettes.

According to last year's community health statistics, the quit attempt rate among smokers in the county increased by 33.2%, from 10.3% in 2018 to 43.5% in 2019. The county expects that continuous smoking prevention education will reduce smoking rates across all age groups and contribute to creating a smoke-free environment.

Kim Soon-bok, head of the health center, said, “We will carry out continuous and effective prevention projects to move away from curiosity about cigarettes and establish a lifelong framework for quitting smoking,” adding, “We will continue to do our best for the healthy lives of local youth.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.