Soccer Smoking & Prevention

Athlete Recipes

Soccer Recipes

Football, Baseball, and Spit Tobacco Seeing a revered player on the field chewing tobacco can make a strong impression on a young person. But thankfully, more professional football and baseball players are turning their backs on unhealthy tobacco products and choosing instead to influence kids in a positive way. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and retired quarterback Steve Young wholeheartedly agreed to appear on posters with messages urging kids not to use spit tobacco or drugs. These posters, used by the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health and the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, were given out to young fans at the NFL Experience, an interactive game and exhibit held in conjunction with the 2000 Super Bowl in Atlanta. Baseball stars are also jumping on the tobacco-free bandwagon. Javier Lopez, catcher for the Atlanta Braves, is fea­tured in a public service announcement discouraging youth from using tobacco. And Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, former Braves first baseman Andres Galarraga, and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter appear in action shots on posters with catchy slogans that discourage kids from using spit tobacco. The posters, produced by the CDC as part of the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP), were unveiled to a captive audience of young fans attending the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Atlanta. Former Major Leaguer and broadcaster Joe Garagiola is national chairman for NSTEP, which links many of baseball's most popular stars with the nation's leading oral health experts and agencies such as the CDC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. NSTEP is an initiative of Oral Health America, America's Fund for Dental Health. Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association adopted NSTEP spring training activities, which included clubhouse presentations about the dangers of using spit tobacco, oral health screenings, and counseling serv­ices to help minor and major league players stop using spit tobacco. NSTEP and the CDC are working with the tobacco control and dental commu­nities to teach youth, parents, teach­ers, coaches, and athletes that spit tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking, and it has no place in sports.

Joe Garagiola, retired Major League Baseball player, National Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster, and national chairman for NSTEP. Photo courtesy of NSTEP. The Tobacco-Free Sports Playbook

Right: Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher gives an "Rx for Improved Health" to Mitt Romney, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002. They were among the many tobacco-free supporters who turned out for the Gold Medal Mile Walk, held in April 2001 in Salt Lake City. Photo courtesy of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002. Below: Jen Davidson (left) and Jean Racine, US women's bobsled team. Photo by Todd Korol.

the International Olympic Committee and WHO, in cooperation with the Organizing Committees of the Games, forbade smoking in all sports venues. A successful smoke-free policy was in place during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, in cooperation with government and local health groups. All venues and participants were smoke-free, and messages about tobacco-free and healthy lifestyles were promoted throughout the event. High-profile athletes such as Stacy Dragila, the world record holder in women's pole vaulting, were on hand to speak out against tobacco use. "Tobacco use and sports just don't mix," she said. The Olympic policies and anti-tobacco promotions worked well. In a CDC/WHO evaluation of the smoke-free policy at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, 137 out of 148 athletes, journalists, and specta­tors surveyed reported they had not noticed any tobacco advertising or promotions during the games. The 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City also will be tobacco-free and will promote similar healthy lifestyle messages tar­geting young people. "I am looking forward to being able to live and com­pete in fresh air during the 2002 Games," said Jen Davidson, a member of the US women's bobsled team who is ranked top women's brakeman in the world and a two-time World Cup overall champion. "It's not just smok­ing that can harm you, but breathing in other people's smoke can also hurt an athlete's performance." The Salt Lake Organizing Committee's