The Warren County Health Department, along with Warren County Coordinated School Health, joined Warren County elementary schools in a tobacco prevention education program for spring 2014. This educational program reached close to 600 fifth-graders system wide, and was taught by Warren County Teen Health Council members. 
Students were educated on the dangers of tobacco use and the importance of avoiding tobacco. Pre- and post-survey results showed there was a 21 percent reduction in students reporting it is OK to use tobacco and would use tobacco products in the future.
In addition to the education program, fifth-graders were encouraged to enter an anti-tobacco poster contest. Health department staff members judged the posters, with the following students chosen as the winners:  first place Lakelyn Jones, Eastside; second place Sarah Sharpe, Morrison; and third place Elijah Fults, Morrison. These posters will be displayed as billboards in the county during the next year. 
Each county in Tennessee is receiving funding over the next three years to reduce the burden of tobacco use in the state. All counties were challenged to set goals and select one or more projects that address three topics: eliminating smoking during pregnancy; reducing infant and child exposure to second-hand smoke; and preventing child and adolescent tobacco use. Warren County will focus its first-year efforts on projects to address each of these three topics.
Funding from the tobacco settlement was provided to the Tennessee Department of Health for fiscal years 2014-2016 to address the state’s high rate of tobacco use and prevent expensive related medical costs. Several new programs will be offered through the Warren County Health Department.
For more information on these efforts to reduce tobacco use in Warren County, call the Warren County Health Department at 473-8468.