Smokers: Take A Day Off From The Habit

If you're a smoker, take a day off from the habit to see if you can quit.

The Rockland County Department of Health's Put It Out Rockland Quit Smoking program says Monday, May 31 is World No Tobacco Day and it will be observed around the world as it has been since 1987.  

The day is meant to encourage a 24-hour abstinence from all forms of tobacco use across the globe and is intended to draw global attention to the widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects, which currently lead to 5.4 million deaths worldwide annually.

Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of disability and death. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco is a risk factor for six out of eight of the leading causes of death in the world, such as cardiovascular disease, lung diseases and various cancers.

The day before World No Tobacco Day, May 30, Helen Hayes Hospital snuff out smoking by prohibiting tobacco use anywhere on its campus in West Haverstraw.

This year's theme for World No Tobacco Day is, "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women." Women comprise about 20 percent of the world's more than one billion smokers.  According to the WHO, "the epidemic of tobacco use among women is increasing in some countries.  Women are a major target of opportunity for the tobacco industry, which needs to recruit new users to replace the nearly half of current users who will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases. Especially troubling is the rising prevalence of tobacco use among girls."

Rockland County's Commissioner of Health Dr. Joan Facelle said tobacco advertisements are designed to make smoking look like it will help young women stay thin, be independent, look sophisticated and sexy.  These ads are misleading -   most of the models that pose for the ads don't smoke, Facelle said.  Also, many teens think that most other teens smoke. This is not true – 88% of teens do not smoke, Facelle said.

"The benefits of quitting start within 20 minutes of putting out your last cigarette and last a lifetime," said Facelle.  "Some benefits you will notice right away and others will develop over time." 

Here are just a few to look forward to:

• your breath smells better

• stained teeth get whiter

• bad smelling clothes and hair will be a thing of the past

• no more yellowed fingers and fingernails

• food tastes better