By Staff
special to The Star
June 12, 2003
For many children, Father's Day is a time for taking dad out to lunch, tossing a baseball or giving him a gift.
This year, The Partnership for a Healthy Lauderdale County is turning the tables and asking fathers to give a gift to their children the gift of clean indoor air.
The Partnership for a Healthy Lauderdale County will be distributing information about the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke to fathers throughout this area.
Information will be distributed at Greater Meridian Health Clinic on Friday at 9 a.m.; Meridian's West Mt. Mariah M.B. Church Men's Conference on Saturday at 9 a.m.; and Pleasant Hill M.B. Church in Newton County on Sunday at 9 a.m.
The National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates that 192,000 children in Mississippi are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke suffer from increased cases of asthma and other respiratory infections.
According to the National Centers for Disease control and Prevention, 460 children in Mississippi lose their dads to smoking-related illnesses each year.
The Partnership for a Healthy Lauderdale County provides tobacco prevention and education throughout Lauderdale and Newton counties. It is the local affiliate of The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, a nonprofit organization of more than 800 statewide governmental and non-governmental agencies, and community groups.
In its comprehensive approach to tobacco prevention, The Partnership combines community and faith-based efforts with school programs, a school nurse program, cessation support, media and the enforcement of laws that prohibit the sale of tobacco to youth.
For more information regarding the programs available in this area, contact Sabrina Wilson at 696-4472.