YOUR CHANCES OF REPRESENTING WALES COULD GO UP IN SMOKE: ASH
Welsh triathlete and 2008 ITU World Champion Helen Jenkins has joined forces with ASH Wales to call on the Welsh Assembly Government to do more to protect teenage girls from becoming smokers.
Helen teamed up with Assembly Member Dr Dai Lloyd to meet young girls from ASH Wales’s youth tobacco control programme in Cardiff Bay.
Joining ASH Wales as a new patron, Helen said:
“I am delighted to be joining forces with ASH Wales which is leading the fight in Wales against the harm caused by tobacco use. I am astonished by the statistics of young teenage girls smoking in Wales. To learn that nearly 1 in 4 15 year old girls in Wales are regularly smoking is staggering. As a top athlete I know the importance of keeping fit and healthy. Athletes have to keep their bodies in top shape to compete at the highest level. These figures are appalling and prove that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the dangers and help them to beat this addiction.
“Young girls are storing up major health problems for themselves in future years. They are severely damaging their health, with smoking linked to heart disease, lung cancer, liver disease etc, not to mention the damage that smoking does to your skin with premature ageing. They quickly get addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes and then they are hooked, sometimes for life.”
The smoking statistics for young people in Wales tell a sorry tale:
Most smokers take up smoking between the ages of 11 and 15, and some as young as 7.
Amongst Welsh 15 year olds, 23% of girls and 12% of boys report regular smoking in 2006 in Wales.
Between 66-90% of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn 18.
Tanya Buchanan, Chief Executive, ASH Wales, said:
“I am so pleased Helen has joined ASH Wales as our new patron. Smoking is an addiction, just like alcohol and heroin addiction and we simply must do more to protect children and young people from the harm caused by tobacco. Wales urgently requires a tobacco control strategy that will detail the measures we can take to reduce childhood addiction to tobacco.”
Dr Dai Lloyd said:
“The measures in the Health Bill passed by Westminster earlier this month banning point of sale displays and vending machines allow Wales to implement these measures at an earlier stage if we wish. And we must take this opportunity to lead the fight against smoking addiction in the UK. Smokefree legislation has been extremely successful in Wales. We must use the legislation in the 2009 Health Bill to reap the benefits for the future and ensure we have a tobacco control strategy in place like other parts of the UK.”
Lauren Davies, aged 16, from Cefn Hengoed said:
“As a young person I am concerned that so many of my friends are getting hooked on smoking. It’s really motivating to meet someone like Helen who has achieved so much in her sporting career. She is an inspiration to young girls like me and I’m really pleased she is supporting us in this campaign.”
NOTES
Please refer all press enquiries to: Carole Jones, ASH Wales at carole@ashwales.co.uk or Tel 02920641101 or 07593538076
Pictured in the photo are girls aged 13-16 from Cardiff and Caerphilly.
ASH Wales is the only voluntary organisation in Wales with the sole task of tackling the ill health caused by tobacco use. Our main aim is to achieve a reduction in, and eventual elimination of, the health problems associated with tobacco use. Further information can be found at: www.ashwales.co.uk.
ASH Wales was established in 1976 as a branch of ASH UK. In 2007 ASH Wales became an independent company limited by guarantee and a charity registered in Wales.
Helen Jenkins was the 2008 World Triathlon Champion and is a Great Britain prospect for London 2012. More information is available from her official website at: www.helentucker.co.uk.
