e-cigarettes: A New Frontier for Big Tobacco Companies?

They are all over the media, celebrities are endorsing them, and yet without regulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) e-cigarettes have no standards to follow or comply with. The short version- Americans know little about the risks associated with using e-cigarettes.

The Huffington Post published an article in early September - 9 Terribly Disturbing Things About Electronic Cigarettes The article gives a list to readers simply stating what is known about e-cigarettes.

        Biggest points from the article:
• e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals.  Specifically diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze.
• Kids across the U.S. are able to purchase these products because there is little regulation and they can be purchased online.
• Companies that produce e-cigarettes are creating them in delicious flavors like milkshake.
• Laws regarding advertisement of cigarettes do not yet apply to e-cigarettes... meaning youth are able to see ads on tv, online, and anywhere they may go.

With so much unknown in the realm of e-cigarettes it is best to play it safe and stay away from using. re:TH!NK also encourages you to do your own research and learn more about these products if you are interested, make sure to look at credible sources (example: www.iheartecigs.com might not be the best place to find and read unbiased information ;).

Learning from the Swazi People 3

Through my internship with re:TH!NK I have come to realize the importance of networking and partnerships. Working with others from the community to reach the same goals creates stronger programs. For this reason it is important to become familiar with different organizations within the community.

re:TH!NK and Growing Oshkosh partnered together for the pilot year of the School Garden Program. Due to the lack of green thumbs in re:TH!NK, Growing Oshkosh's knowledge with the gardens was crucial to making the School Garden Program as successful as possible. The gardens are currently producing an abundance of vegetables!

eatsmart! is another program that would not be as wide-reaching if not for local partners. ThedaCare and local health professionals have teamed together to work with participating restaurants. The mission of eatsmart! is to have healthy options be identified and available for those who want to eat healthy is a restaurant setting. The recipe of identified food has been evaluated by a registered dietitian and is marked with the eatsmart! thumbs up! Any interested restaurants can choose to participate. Currently there are 8 participating restaurants in the area!

It is my personal belief that no matter what the program, it is important to team up with others in community. Networking is an important part of working in Public Health. While in Swaziland, Give Hope, Fight Poverty met with different local organizations to find out what else was going on in the community. We didn't want to be competing for resources with others who were trying to accomplish the same things. One of the organizations focuses on the HIV pandemic, currently 40% of Swazi people are HIV positive, some of our orphans included. The organization sets up clinics for anti-retroviral treatment for those in the more rural areas. They also help to place HIV positive people in support groups. This information is good to know and we may use them as a resource in the future. For the time being we were able to to help them by donating some clothing! 

    Swaziland has some of the highest rates of HIV worldwide! This is a picture I took at the border crossing to help promote the use of condoms and safe sexual practice. 

Swaziland is the last absolute monarach and ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. King Mswati has 13 wives, each with her own palace.The royal family will sponsor different organizations. One of the organizations we met with is actually sponsored by one of the princesses. The mission of this organization is to focus and enhance female education. The details of this are still being worked out and the program will hopefully be launched soon. Again, knowledge is valuable and may be useful in the future.  

The beginning stages of the library Give Hope, Fight Poverty is buidling at one of the primary schools. Knowledge is the best tool to help the children!

It doesn't matter where you are in the world networking is important. Partners help to make projects more impactful. It is important to know and utilize the resources available. I am amazed at how much I have learned while interning for re:TH!NK. I loved the variety of opportunities I was able to experience! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and my time with re:TH!NK is coming to a rapid close. I am definitely going to miss all the new friends I have come know! I am grateful for the great intership they provided for me.  

Learning from the Swazi People 2

Living in America I never truly appreciated the sanitation criteria establishments are required to meet. Living in a place where you don’t have to question how your meat was prepared, where the water in your cup came from, or if the dishes you are using are really clean it can become easy to forget that in some places these issues exist. Typically I am not a person who is concerned with germs…I often use the 5 seconds rule if I drop a piece of food on the floor. However, I have new found appreciation for the regulations we have set up.

I have recently returned from a trip to Swaziland. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned the water was safe to drink. Also, there was always a nearby KFC to grab a bite to eat. However, out of these city comforts and into the more rural areas where many of Give Hope, Fight Poverty’s orphans live these delights are no longer available.  

I realized the seriousness of sanitation as I helped some of the ladies prepare a meal for about 60 people. We chopped vegetables that we had washed in the same bucket of water-it was black with dirt when we were done. We cooked chicken underneath the hot sun in huge black cauldrons on open fires. While the vegetables waited to be placed in an available cauldron they sat in bowls under the shade of a tree for over an hour. The young boys kept us supplied with water as they wheel barrowed water to us in the field- I hoped that the water was from a pipe source that had been through the proper sanitation.

Soap is a scarcity but the ladies took every precaution available. We made sure all visible dirt was off the vegetables, we rinsed out the bowls before putting food in them, the young boys brought us water, and we scrubbed the table and scraped off the dried paper from the surface.

In the end we all ate the food and nobody became ill. In fact, the food was delicious and after all the preparation I took seconds! But I am thankful that we have the Sanitarians from the Health Department to make sure that we have rules in place for those who handle our food to follow. The last thing anyone would want to have to worry about would be wondering if the food and water they were eating was going to make them ill. I'm sure glad I don't have this worry. In fact, next week at EAA I can eat the pulled pork sandwhich with ease knowing our sanitatarians inspect the outdooor festivals in the area.

Learning from the Swazi People

I have recently returned from Swaziland where I worked with a very small but wonderful non profit:Give Hope, Fight Poverty . The mission statement of GHFP is to educate, empower and lift orphaned and vulnerable children out of poverty. In order to accomplish this goal Give Hope Fight Poverty currently sponsors 19 orphans to attend school, provides funds/supplies for a computer lab and library at a primary school, funds methods to obtain food security, and is currently building a primary school in a rural area where the closest school is 12 km away. 

During my trip I was able to spend a lot of time with some of the children that are sponsored by GHFP. We would go to their homes to play different games with the hope of making these children feel loved and special especially since they are all orphans. One way GHFP is obtaining food security is by having the children garden at home and at school. This was really awesome to see because one of my major projects with re:TH!NK has been school gardens. I never would have thought to look and see school gardens half way across the world as well. 

Both the Oshkosh school gardens and the pLangeni school gardens grow cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, and carrots! In addition, the gardens in Swaziland have fruit trees. The kids in pLangeni work very hard on their gardens because for many in is the main source of food. Throughout my trip I was continuously surprised when the kids would eat beets, cabbage, spinach etc. with excitement. It struck me that if the kids in the US were exposed to these types of foods at an earlier age they may show some of the same excitement. I cannot wait to see how the kids in Winnebago County react to the different FUN FOOD OF THE MONTH this year!

                  This is one of the fruit trees at the school garden in pLangeni.

 

         These pictures are from Malindza when we cooked the children lunch!

 

Hey Parents: Summer's Here

School’s out for summer! We know the kids are stoked!  Summer means graduation parties, hanging out with friends, and a whole lot of free time.

As parents, we worry about what our teens are doing, kids being kids or high risk dangerous behavior like jumping into the pool from the roof  (teens perspective: awesome; might be on TOSH.0). For some, the teenage years, especially during the summer months, is the time for experimentation with drugs and alcohol. 

Adults know the consequences (risky sexual behavior, car accidents, fights and higher risk for suicide) and it seems like the dangers are more severe today than 20-30 years ago.  

The truth is the dangers are real and more severe. Heroin is available in the Fox Cities, Green Bay, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, moving north from Milwaukee and Chicago. It is here and it is cheap. In Winnebago County, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in overdose deaths in the last 2 years related to prescription drugs and heroin. While law enforcement is doing everything they can about heroin use, education and prevention are the primary tools to effectively avoid addiction.

Prescription drug abuse is not only a national epidemic, but also a local problem with serious consequences. Often when teens use prescription drugs to get high they also combine it with other substances like alcohol. These combinations can be fatal. Additionally, experts in the field of substance abuse are finding that teens who try prescription drugs such as Oxycodone will be more apt to try heroin. Both are highly addictive opiates.

Marijuana is stronger today than it was in the 1970-1980s. Parents, be careful if you think it is not addictive or less dangerous than other drugs. It is a psychotropic drug that can permanently alter a teenage brain. A lot of kids don’t think marijuana is harmful, and many parents think it is not as harmful as other drugs out there. Educate yourself with the latest research and check your assumptions.

Alcohol remains highly available and more attractive than ever. Brands like Four Loko, Joose, and Blast are sweetened alcoholic beverages tailored to sweeter palettes of youth. These drinks have approximately 4 servings of alcohol in one 24 ounce can. They come in fruity flavors such as watermelon, kiwi strawberry and fruit punch. Teens are able to drink this like its juice or Kool-Aid, and can consume several cans before the effects of intoxication set in. Two 24 oz cans can be the equivalent of having 8 shots of alcohol!

As summer begins, consider strategies to prevent your kids from drinking or using drugs.

·         Toss out left over liquor bottles. Teens know what you use and what’s sitting around. They are much more likely to experiment with the liquor you are least likely to notice.

·         Use the DrugDrop boxes in Winnebago County to dispose of unused prescription medications to keep them out of the hands of your kids. DrugDrop Boxes are located at Police Departments in Oshkosh, Neenah, and the Town of Menasha.

·         A summer job is NOT a barrier to experimentation; in fact, it can be a gateway to risky behaviors when summer employment results in relationships between your teen and older, legal drinking-age co-workers. Talk to your teen about work relationships, new friends and your expectations of them while working this summer, including curfews and work hours.

·         Do not serve alcohol to your teenager or their friends. The idea that it is safer to have them drink at home is a myth. No amount of alcohol is safe for the developing teenage brain. Hosting a party where kids turn in their keys so they don’t drive is sending mixed messages that it is ok to drink as long as they don’t drive. It is illegal to serve alcohol to minors; adults know this and so do teens.

·         Transitions are difficult times. If your son/daughter is heading to college in the fall, talk to them about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. Many schools are trying to curb underage drinking, including strict consequences if a student is caught. Student aid could be eliminated if caught for underage drinking. Additionally, extracurricular activities usually have guidelines restricting underage drinking and drug testing.

·         Parents: Talk to your kids openly and honestly about the dangers of drinking and trying drugs. Educate yourself about drugs and alcohol including prescription drugs, and marijuana. Even if you used drugs and alcohol during your teen years don’t let that stop you from talking to your kids. Be honest and let them know how risky it was.  It is good parenting to talk to your kids about the dangers about underage drinking and drugs.

Resources

·         National Institute on Drug Abuse: (http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana)

·         SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration):  http://samhsa.gov/underagedrinking/

·          re:TH!NK Winnebago’s Healthy Living Partnership: http://www.rethinkwinnebago.org/Resources/for-parents.html

·         Partnership for Drugfree Americahttp://teenbrain.drugfree.org/science/index.html