Preventing the uptake of smoking by children and young people

Here’s the draft guidance that NICE are considering around mass-media and point-of-sales measures to prevent the uptake of smoking by children and young people:

Develop and deliver a national, regional or local mass-media campaign to prevent the uptake of smoking among young people aged under 18, for example, by reducing the attractiveness of tobacco and generally making smoking socially unacceptable. The campaign should not be developed or delivered in conjunction with (or supported by) the tobacco industry. It should:

• be informed by research that identifies and understands the target audiences
• be developed in partnership with national, regional and local government and non-governmental organisations and the NHS (at national, regional or local level, as appropriate)
• consider groups that research indicates have higher rates of smoking than the average, or where smoking prevalence is rising (for example, young women and young people in disadvantaged circumstances)
• feature messages that are repeated in a number of ways
• use advertisements that are regularly updated and run over 3–5 years (and which consistently attract and influence children and young people)
• use personal testimonials that children and young people can relate to
• use messages that empower children and young people to refuse offers of cigarettes
• include advertisements that elicit an emotional reaction (for example, fear)
• include advertisements that portray tobacco as a deadly product, not just as a drug that is inappropriate for children and young people to use
• include graphic images that portray smoking’s detrimental effect on health as well as appearance (for example, its effect on the appearance of skin and teeth)
• use news coverage, posters, brochures and other materials to promote the campaign. This includes generating news by writing articles, commissioning newsworthy research and issuing press releases. It also includes enlisting the support of healthcare professionals, public relations agencies and local anti-tobacco activists
• use strategic and pre- and post-testing qualitative and quantitative research with the target audiences and process measures to ensure campaigns are being delivered as intended. For recommendations on the principles of evaluation, see ‘Behaviour change at population, community and individual levels’ (NICE public health guidance 6)
• contribute to changing society’s attitude towards tobacco use so that smoking is not considered the norm by any group
• involve working in partnership with media professionals and using best practice methods employed by them.

National campaigns should exploit the full range of media used by children and young people, especially television advertising.

Regional and local campaigns should build on, and be integrated with, a national communications strategy to tackle tobacco use. They should use regional and local press and radio to reach specific audiences and to get unpaid coverage in the press. They should also use regional and local networks to generate as much publicity as possible.

I do worry about whether designing campaigns that elicit fear won’t fall foul of the Advertising Standards Authority, let alone whether they’ll be effective.  Certainly the NHS has come a cropper on this before.

There are also recommendations which are aimed at point of sale interventions and at retailers.

The draft guidance says later on:

 some types of intervention will have a greater or more immediate effect than others (for example, price increases compared with educational measures). However, it is not a question of choosing one type of intervention over another but, rather, involves employing a range of interventions and ensuring they are all carried out in the most effective way.

And:

Mass-media and point-of-sales interventions are two strategies for preventing the uptake of smoking among children and young people aged under 18. These need to be combined with other prevention activities to form part of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy that includes policies on price and regulation, education programmes, cessation support services and local activities. They should also be sufficiently extensive and sustained to have a reasonable chance of success.

You have until 18 April to make any observations.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Interventions to Prevent the Uptake of Smoking in Child, NICE