Smoking Kills Fun

World No Tobacco Day is on May 31 and adolescent patients at The Children's Hospital at Westmead have created a 40 second animation, using clay, pipe cleaners and other materials, called Smoking Kills Fun. 

Watching the clip can win a young person an iPod Touch, Classic, Nano or Shuffle.

Go to http://www.chw.edu.au/parents/kidshealth/smoking/ to enter the competition. Fill in the form and add the e-mail addresses of two friends who may also like to enter.

To create this clever, catchy clip, the adolescent patients participated in 4 workshops as part of the Adolescent Medicine Youth Arts Groupwork Program. They have depicted fun activities, with the end of the clip showing that smoking kills fun.

Tobacco smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death and disease in Australia. " Most adults begin smoking while they are in their teens, and research estimates that one in two lifetime smokers who start smoking as teenagers will die from a disease caused by their smoking, "  said Lauren Cohen, Health promotion Officer for Kids Health at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

World No Tobacco Day is an initiative of the World Health Organization. It is an opportunity to encourage governments, communities and groups worldwide to become aware of the hazards of tobacco use and to encourage everyone who smokes or uses tobacco, to quit for at least 24 hours. World No Tobacco Day is held to encourage all sections of the community to be more concerned about the health problems caused by smoking, and to take steps to reduce them.

Adolescent patients at The Children's Hospital at Westmead want to spread the word that eventually, Smoking Kills Fun.

Media contact:  Leonie Leonard /Public Relations Manager /The Children's Hospital at Westmead Tel: 02 9845 3583