Butt out and win

A new contest has been announced to try to persuade people to stop smoking.

Details of the contest are included in the following news release issued today by the North Bay and District Health Unit:
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QUIT SMOKING 2004 CONTEST OFFERS GREAT INCENTIVES


The North Bay & District Health Unit invites people who are thinking about quitting smoking this year to enter the Quit Smoking 2004 Contest in March. The incentives are improved health and the chance to win terrific prizes.

Quit Smoking 2004 is a provincial contest that offers some great incentives to people who are thinking about quitting.

A Mini Cooper and a Toshiba Home Theatre in a Box system are among the prizes available to those who kick the habit in March.

Josée Bisson, a community health promoter with the Health Unit, said, “Winning a prize in this contest would definitely be a bonus, but the best reason to consider quitting is improved health. Within 48 hours of quitting, your lungs start to clear, your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal, and you begin reducing your risk of heart attacks and lung cancer. The possibility of winning a car might just be enough to give someone who’s thinking about quitting that little extra push to try.”

The contest is geared to daily smokers who have decided it’s time to quit. Ontario residents, aged 19 or older, may enter on the Health Unit web site (www.nbdhu.on.ca) or pick up an entry form at the Health Unit, 681 Commercial Street in North Bay. Entries must be received by midnight on February 29. Entrants must remain smoke-free from March 1 to 31 to qualify for the prizes.

The contest officially launches today to give participants time to prepare mentally and physically to quit smoking for the month of March. People should begin by thinking about the reasons they smoke and why they want to quit, the strategies they will use to cope with the urge and the pressure to smoke, and the help available to them from their health care provider or the public health unit.

Breaking habits is difficult, and people who smoke sometimes have to try to quit many times before they are successful. Bisson says that each time a person makes the attempt, he or she gets closer to quitting for good. “To be successful at most things, people need to practise. Each time they do, they learn a little more about the things that will help them reach their goal.”

One of the things that will help participants in the Quit Smoking 2004 Contest is the requirement to have a buddy - someone who will help keep them on track when the going gets tough. Buddies are eligible for prizes, too.

Bisson noted that “Everyone who enters the contest and quits - even it it’s only for a month - comes out a winner, whether or not his or her name is selected in the draw.”

Quit Smoking 2004 is funded in part by Health Canada and is supported by more than 60 local councils on smoking and health and public health units throughout Ontario, with additional support from Pfizer Canada Inc, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Division, the Industrial Accident Prevention association, the Ontario Smokers’ Helpline, Ontario Dental Hygienists Association, Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, Ontario Dental Nurses and Assistants Association, Association of Local Public Health Agencies, Ontario Occupational Health Nurses Association, and the Running Room.

For information on the Quit Smoking 2004 Contest, please call 474-1400, ext 371 or visit www.nbdhu.on.ca.