State ranks second in efforts to cut female smokers
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
Hawai'i ranked second in a national report card released yesterday related to reducing the number of women and girls who smoke.
The report by the National Women's Law Center and the Oregon Health & Science University assesses health status and health policies related to smoking, major smoking-related diseases and access to services that help people quit. The policies are drawn from a 10-year agenda set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which aims to reduce the threat of preventable illnesses.
Hawai'i is one of 42 states to reach an agreement with Wal-Mart stores on new policies designed to cut back on tobacco sales to minors. State Attorney General Mark Bennett yesterday announced the agreement, which includes these requirements: • Employee training on laws and policies on tobacco sales to minors • Use of cash registers programmed to prompt ID checks on tobacco sales • Checking the IDs of people buying cigarettes when they appear to be under age 27 • Hiring an independent entity to conduct random compliance checks of about 10 percent of all Wal-Mart stores every six months Hawai'i has six Wal-Mart stores and one Sam's Club.
It showed a relatively low number of smokers statewide, 16.6 percent, with a high percentage of women who have tried to quit during the past year. It cited a substantial cigarette tax in Hawai'i, and the use of tobacco settlement money to help discourage smoking.
Wal-Mart helps states
The Kalihi-Palama Health Center uses tobacco settlement money to target pregnant women who smoke and parents of young children, but a significant number of clients there still smoke, said Doris Segal Matsunaga, health education director. She said its data indicate that about one in four pregnant women are current or former smokers (with a risk to begin again). Matsunaga said programs that help clients quit smoking help prevent premature births, low-birth-weight infants and other family health problems. "That funding is a godsend for us."
Ac'Lynne Uesugi, 33, got help to quit smoking last year. She went to the Kalihi clinic after she found out she was pregnant with her first child.
Uesugi said she'd been smoking since she was in her mid-20s and thought about kicking the habit but didn't. When the staff at the center explained the health risks smoking posed to her baby, she quit. "It wasn't all about me anymore," she said.
The staff helped her find alternatives to smoking: write in a journal, take a deep breath, take time. "My whole focus had changed, so it wasn't as hard," she said.
State Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said that the report shows a link between aggressive tobacco-prevention programs and a decrease in tobacco use.
Deborah Zysman, director of Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawai'i, said it's great news to see Hawai'i doing better than many states on women and smoking, but "we have a long way to go."
Zysman noted Hawai'i's grade of "satisfactory minus" put it just behind Utah. "The nation as a whole failed miserably," she said.
In Hawai'i, an estimated 1,100 people die every year from smoking-related issues.
Zysman also said state statistics in 2000 showed 26 percent of high school girls reported being smokers while an even higher number — 31 percent of Native Hawaiian and Filipino girls — said they smoke.
Uesugi, who recently moved to Wai'anae, said quitting has made her happier about herself. She also knows she's helping her 4-month-old daughter. "When you feel healthy, you feel like a whole different person," she said.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
