Father’s Day is a day to celebrate dads for who they are and all of the wonderful things they do.  It is also a great time for dads to remember the important role they play in influencing the choices their kids make regarding tobacco use.  Unfortunately, tobacco use among men remains a serious problem: one in five men currently smoke, more than 269,600 men die every year from smoking, and 216,000 kids have already lost their dad to smoking.

Smoking takes a tremendous toll on Nebraska men and their families, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. In Nebraska, 18.5 percent of men smoke. That means 122,100 Nebraska men smoke. In fact:

• Nebraska ranks 16th of the 50 states in the smoking rate for men, with first being the lowest rate.
• Each year, 1,400 Nebraska men die from smoking. 
• In this state, 1,000 kids have lost their dads to smoking. Each year, another 140 Nebraska kids lose their dads to smoking.
• Smoking places a financial burden on Nebraska, too. Each year, $11.8 million is spent for SSSI payments to kids with dads lost to smoking, and the state pays $345.1 million per year to treat men smokers.

Dads who smoke can celebrate Father’s Day by quitting, and all dads, whether or not they smoke, can celebrate Father’s Day by taking a number of effective actions to protect their kids from becoming another one of the tobacco industry’s addicted customers and victims.  Even if they smoke, what dads say, how they act, and the values they communicate through their words and deeds has an enormous influence whether or not kids smoke. And all dads, smokers and nonsmokers alike, can also do a lot to protect their kids from secondhand smoke.

What can dads do to protect their kids from the harms of smoking and tobacco use? The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids has put together this sheet of tips for dads (see below) on how to celebrate a smoke-free father's day.

To learn about how Nebraska can reduce tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit smoking, sign up now to get email updates from Health Education Inc.

Happy second birthday, Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law!

Two years ago today, Nebraska put in place a law that protects the air we breathe at indoor worksites throughout the state. And Nebraskans appreciate the effort.

Nebraska's smoke-free worksites law is doing what it was intended to do, and other states should follow suit, according to an editorial just published in the Dakota County Star.

A year ago, Eric Rosenberg, who enjoys visiting Kearney bars, told the Kearney Hub he’s grateful for the smoking ban, and that it’s helping him quit the habit.

“I smoke a lot less,” Rosenberg told the Hub. “When you’re trying to quit, and you’re in a bar, the urge to smoke isn’t there because there aren’t a lot of people blowing smoke in your face.”

A report issued by Tobacco Free Nebraska recognizing the impact of the first six months of the smoke-free air law found:

• Nebraskans overwhelmingly support the statewide smoke-free air law that protects non-smokers from secondhand smoke in public places including bars, restaurants and gaming establishments.
  
• Nebraskans believe it is important to have a law prohibiting smoking inside most public buildings, including restaurants and bars.
  
• Nebraskans overwhelmingly agree that restaurants and bars in the state are healthier for employees and customers as a result of the law.
  
• Nebraskans still frequent restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls and keno establishments as much as they did before the smoke-free air law went into effect.

And now, two years into the implementation of the law, the evidence of the dangers of secondhand smoke and how smoke-free worksites laws protect health continues to pile in.

The Michigan Department of Community Health recently reported the results of a health study of 40 people working at bars in 12 Michigan counties, mlive.com reported yestereday.

The study found a significant drop in the levels of two chemical compounds that serve as markers of secondhand smoke exposure.

The bar employees reported better health, and that they were less likely to have allergy symptoms, wheezing, shortness of breath, phlegm, daytime cough and morning cough.

A study involving more than 6,400 youth has linked exposure to secondhand smoke to higher blood pressure in boys was just released in Denver, MedScape.com reported yesterday. 

Higher blood pressure early in life can be a forerunner of high blood pressure as an adult. High blood pressure has been linked to heart and kidney disease. In nonsmoking adults, studies have shown a link between secondhand smoke and increased blood pressure.

Nebraskans can be proud of the step it took to put in place a comprehensive smoke-free worksites law. We will benefit with better health for years to come.

Today is World No Tobacco Day, a day to recall how tobacco use hurts the people who use them or are exposed to them, and to look at what can be done to help people live healthier lives free of tobacco addiction.

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco takes a tremendous toll on human life. The tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of whom more than 5 million are users and ex users, and more than 600 000 are nonsmokers exposed to second-hand smoke.

• After high blood pressure, tobacco use is the biggest contributor to the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases — such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema — which accounts for 63% of deaths
• Smokers are more susceptible to certain communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia
• No consumer product kills as many people and as needlessly as does tobacco. It killed 100 million people in the 20th century. Unless we act, it could kill up to 1 billion people in the 21st. All of these deaths will have been entirely preventable

What can be done in Nebraska to reduce tobacco use? A comprehensive strategy that includes reducing Nebraskans' exposure to secondhand smoke, price increases in tobacco products, and adequately funding a program to reduce tobacco use and help Nebraskans quit has been shown by research to be effective in reducing tobacco use.

The presentation above highlights what can be done to reduce tobacco use in Nebraska.

Today, Nebraskans have a new way that they can get involved in the effort to promote tobacco free kids and to join the effort to help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use: They can share their story of how smoking and tobacco use has impacted their lives.

Nebraskans now have the opportunity to share their story about how smoking or other tobacco use has impacted their lives, or about how efforts to promote healthy tobacco-free lives have helped them. When they do so, they will join the growing number of Nebraskans who are taking action to promote tobacco free kids and help Nebraskans quit smoking and quit tobacco use.

They'll become part of Nebraskans ACT (Action Challenging Tobacco) and add their voice to the effort to reduce tobacco use in Nebraska.

There is no cost or obligation to be part of the effort, which is sponsored by Health Education Inc., a non-profit serving the health of Nebraska for more than 30 years.

High school students from Doniphan-Trumbull and Heartland Lutheran high schools will be passing out cessation materials including Quit Now cards. Hy-Vee in Grand Island is offering an in-store incentive to customers who throw away their tobacco products.

These activities are happening through a partnership for Kick Butts Day between Tobacco Free Hall County and Hy-Vee in Grand Island. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at the Grand Island Hy-Vee.

Kick Butts Day is a day of activism that empowers youth to take action against tobacco use at more than 2,000 events from coast to coast. Kick Butts Day was initiated in 1995 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

This year the Hall County-area youth will focus on educating customers about the hazardous effects of second- and third-hand smoke especially in multi-unit housing, where children have an increase exposure through common ventilation. This can lead to increasing experiences of upper respiratory infections, asthma and inner ear infections, as well as more missed school days.

In 2011, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids is considered one of the country’s largest nongovernmental initiatives, funded entirely without contributions from the government or tobacco industry. The Campaign’s mission is to make sure youth are not exposed to tobacco products, thus limiting deadly addiction.

Volunteers and advocates from throughout Nebraska met in Lincoln yesterday because of their desire to reduce tobacco use in Nebraska.

Representatives from diverse groups such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Nebraska Medical Association and AARP. They learned about the effort to reduce tobacco use, then met with their state senators to convey their concern about the problem of tobacco use.

In Nebraska, 2,200 kids younger than 18 become new daily smokers each year. Meanwhile, the same number of adults die prematurely each year in Nebraska from smoking-related diseases.

Tobacco use costs Nebraska $537 million in health care bills each year.