|
|
|
Faculty of Health Sciences
School of Dentistry
Department of Community Dentistry
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
School-based programmes aimed at preventing tobacco use amongst adolescents generally meet with limited success. Their lack of effectiveness have been partially ascribed to the fact that cigarettes or snuff offer immediate gratification, while their negative effects only become apparent over the course of several years.
In the adolescent mind, rewards in the present usually outweigh the possibility of future harm. A possible way of surmounting this problem is by modifying prevention programmes so that they emphasise the immediate disadvantages of tobacco use as well as its long-term impacts.
One of the first negative effects of tobacco use is a deterioration in oral health. In layperson's terms, smoking causes bad breath – a condition with fearful implications for an adolescent with romantic aspirations.
Building on this insight, an MRC-funded study was launched to evaluate the effectiveness of a life skills training program focused on the prevention of tobacco use and the promotion of oral health amongst adolescents in rural areas of the Limpopo Province.
As part of this study, a baseline survey was conducted among 2 119 Grade 8 learners from 21 schools. One of the aims of this survey was to test the hypothesis that adolescents with positive attitudes towards oral health are less likely to be smokers - an outcome that would lend credence to the idea that an emphasis on oral health is an effective way of discouraging tobacco use.
The hypothesis was supported by the survey results. This finding expands the theoretical base for the eventual adaptation of the life skills training program to include activity sheets and role-plays focusing on the benefits of fresh breath.
Follow-up studies are underway to ascertain whether positive attitudes towards oral health help prevent adolescents from taking up tobacco in later years.
Dr OA Ayo-Yusuf
Community Dentistry
+27 (0) 12 319 2514
lekan.ayoyusuf@up.ac.za
|
|
|
|
