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38 - CAPEGAZETTE, Friday, April 14 - April 20, 2000
iMarch of Dimes fundrasing dance set April 15
Local girl named Sussex ambassador child
By Kerry Kester
Friendly Ice Cream Restaurant
at Rehoboth Mall will host a
March of Dimes fundraising event
from 4:30 to 9 p.m., Wednesday,
April 19. Ten percent of the
restaurant sales during that time
period will go to March of Dimes
in support of WalkAmerica,
which will be April 29.
Alissa Thielbahr, 10, of Re-
hoboth Beach, is the ambassador
child representing Sussex County
for the March of Dimes, Delaware
chapter. She is a student at
Shields Elementary School,
where she attends a Sussex Ele-
mentary Constortium program for
children with special needs.
Thielbahr, who has been assist-
ed with her physical disabilities
by Easter Seals, which works in
conjunction
with the
March of
Dimes to pre-
vent birth de-
fects, has a
seizure disor-
der.
The 2000
WalkAmerica
THIELBAHR
event marks
its 30th year of working toward
raising funds that are used to pre-
vent birth defects and assist fami-
lies whose children are born with
birth defects.
The Sussex County event will
be Saturday, April 29, at the Vil-
lage of Cool Branch in Seaford.
VFW Ladies Auxiliary, statewide,
will participate in the walk that
will begin at Legislative Mall in
Dover the same day.
For information about signing
up for the Sussex County walk,
call 302-225-1020. To join the
VFW group for the walk, contact
VFW co-captain Barbara Mc-
Gowan at 645-7689. For infor-
mation about the walk or about
the organization, visit the Web site
<www.modimes.org> or call 800-
525-WALK. In addition to the
fundraiser Friendly's is sponsor-
ing, CAT Country radio host Bri-
an K. Hall will be the disc jockey
at a dance Saturday, April 15, at
American Legion Post 28 on
Route 24, near Millsboro. Tickets
are $10. The dance, featuring
music by Forecast, is from 8 p.m.
until midnight.
New trial helps doctor predict which adolescents are smokers
By asking a few simple questions, along
with getting a urine sample, physicians can
determine which of their preteen and
teenage patients smoke cigarettes. That's
according to a study presented at the Amer-
ican Heart Association L.J. Filer Jr. third
International Conference on Atherosclero-
sis in the Young.
"It's a simple method that fills a major
gap," said Dr. Samuel S. Gidding, an au-
thor of the study and associate professor of
pediatrics and preventive medicine at
Northwestern University Medical School,
Chicago. "Until now, physicians were ex-
pected to find some way to identify the
smokers among their teen patients and then
counsel them on how to quit smoking.
"Unfortunately, there has been little in-
formation previously on how doctors
should go about it," he said. It's a time con-
suming task, Gidding said, and one "that
was falling through the cracks at many
physician's offices, according to previous
research. Our study found that kids who
smoke can ,be identified by their physi-
cians, and intervention should occur. This
method also helps doctors identify so-
called 'experimenters' - those young peo-
ple who smoke occasionally, but haven't
committed to the habit full time," he said.
Key questions in the written survey are,
"Do you smoke?" and "How many ciga-
rettes have you smoked in the pasi month?"
The survey also asks the patients questions
about the smoking habits of their friends
and family members.
Gidding said the number of cigarettes a
young person smokes is a key indicator of
just how addicted he or she is. "Reporting
less than one cigarette a month makes the
young person more likely to be an experi-
menter, and these individuals are at risk of
eventually progressing to heavier tobacco
use," he said.
Researchers say a teen whose friends
and/or family smoke are more likely than
other patients to be smokers themselves.
"Parents who smoke are a particularly
strong indicator," Gidding said. "When
kids smoke, we usually find that their par-
ents are smokers as well. It seems to create
a permissive environment for tobacco use."
Gidding and his colleagues used a longer
version of the survey containing 26 ques-
tions as a study tool at a pediatric clinic to
determine if the method for uncovering
adolescent smokers was effective. Gidding
said it appeared to be a useful tool. "We al-
so found that young people will be honest
about their smoking habits, as long as their
physician promises confidentiality."
The study looked at 124 patients ages 14
through 18. Most of them - 71 percent -
were male. Eighty-four, or 68 percent, of
the patients said they were nonsmokers.
Another 25 patients, or 20 percent, were
classified as experimenters. The remaining
15 patients, or 12 percent, were smokers.
Gidding said analyzing the urine sample
to detect cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine
that stays in the body for a longer period of
time than nicotine, was a valuable backup
for the questionnaire. One regular smoker,
and two who might be considered experi-
menters, were identified this way after re-
porting not smoking or smoking less than
one cigarette a month on the survey.
Seventy-three of the adolescents who
smoked reported having a family member
who smoked, compared to 44 percent of the
experimenters and 26 percent of the non-
smokers.
"Though all of the teens rated smoking as
harmful on a 5-point scale, the nonsmokers
perceived smoking to be very harmful,
whereas the smokers and experimenters
thought it was slightly less harmful," Gid-
ding said. "The beliefs and expei'iences
were similar among the experimenters and
the smokers. This indicates that experi-
menters could easily become habitual
smokers."
Senior citizens can benefit from exercise programs
By Gretchen Pippin
As the spring season arrives, we
are all eagerly awaiting the time
to get out and enjoy the coming
season. There are so many things
that we want to accomplish out-
doors when the warmer weather
comes, but we need to prepare our
bodies for it now.
Do you ever find that when you
do get outside that first warm day
and exert yourself, you find that
for the next two weeks, you feel
sore and stiff?
Well, think about it - in the win-
ter, we hibernate like bears. We
are used to coming home, eating
and then sitting around. What we
need to do is to gear ourselves ac-
cording to the sunlight. Take no-
tice; it's already staying light
longer.
We need just a few strategies to
start reminding our bodies that we
need to be active again. It's sim-
ple, but it does take some plan-
ning.
First and foremost is stretching.
We need to slowly get the muscles
to respond to activity without
straining and causing discomfort.
We have to remember one thing:
our bodies are naturally lazy, so
we have to coax ourselves slowly.
Next, what we need to do is to
get outside and walk. Now that it
is staying light longer, this is the
perfect way to gauge how long we
walk. For example, if you eat din-
ner at 5 p.m. and finish at 5:30
p.m., you can get outside and
walk about 15 minutes until the
sun goes down. If you continue
this pace you will find that in two
weeks you can easily walk 30
minutes. After accomplishing this
task, the rest is a snap. If garden-
ing is your thing, just remember
to take things slow. Lift using
your knees, take breaks every 15
minutes, drink plenty of water,
and always shift around, never
stay in one position too long.
When it comes to raking or dig-
ging, always change sides, never
stay just on one side the whole
time.
For details concerning tips to
get ready for spring time activi-
ties, call the Fit 'n' Fun fitness
center at CHEER Community
Center in Georgetown, 854-9500.
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