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April 18, 2003

Health board praises results of smoking contest

600 youth and adults participate in challenge

ODILE NELSON

The winners haven't been officially announced yet, and some people stumbled along the race, but the Nunavik health board is already congratulating the hundreds of participants who took on the region's first-ever (Stay) Quit to Win Challenge.

More than 600 youth and adults across Nunavik participated in the contest that challenged smokers and non-smokers to remain smoke-free from March 1 to April 11.

"We congratulate each smoker who has taken the challenge," said Kathy Snowball, the public health agent for the health board in a press release.

"At the same time, we did not want to discriminate against non-smokers, so we opened the challenge to both non-smokers and smokers who quit for six weeks. Non-smokers in the North are a very special minority. Each one of them deserves a prize for staying smoke-free in communities where smoking has been so common."

The health board registered 290 adults and 336 young people between the ages of eight and 17. Thirty-six families entered a unique "family category" designed to encourage households to take on the challenge together. Seven of Nunavik's 14 communities and seven of the region's 14 schools also participated in the community and school categories.

Serge Déry, the director of public health, praised the unique initiative.

"Smoking causes so much preventable disease and death in the North, it was essential that we try something unusual and fun to get the message across to smokers," Déry said. "We are delighted with the positive response from community members."

Smoking is a serious health concern in Nunavik. A 2002 study found roughly three-quarters of the region's youth between 14 and 16 smoke. Other studies suggest a similar rate among adults.

Snowball, who smokes herself, joined other participants in the six-week challenge. Though she relapsed, she credits the contest with bringing her a step closer to kicking the habit.

"It helped a lot. I used to smoke half a pack a day but now there are times during the day where I forget the need to smoke," she said. "The contest was a big success for me, and for people from Nunavik who quit and stopped smoking."

The health board drew winning names in the adult, youth and family categories after the contest officially closed last Friday. The winners' saliva was then tested to ensure the contestants had not smoked during the six-week run.

Judges still must decide which community and school will win their respective categories. Snowball said the health board would release the list of winners either this week or next week.

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