ISLAND TEENS ADVOCACY TEAM ITAT NEWSLETTER April 2019 ITAT is recognized by UPHA What's New in APril ITAT Wins Distinguished Public Health Award This month, our island teens were awarded the UPHA Youth Award. Each year, the Utah Public Health Association recognizes a youth group that has made a significant contribution to address a serious public health problem. " The Awards Committee unanimously agreed that they [ITAT] have contributed significantly to addressing serious public health problem(s) and truly deserve this award" -Lori Greene, UPHA committee member Members from our ITAT presidencies represented their respective schools (Provo, Kearns, Bingham, Westlake, Granger, Hunter, Skyridge, Pineview) and accepted the award on behalf of their clubs. Thank you to the UPHA for recognizing our island teens at the awards banquet. They felt so honored and special at the beautiful luncheon and recognition. ITAT Performs at 8th grade Celebration Our island teens partnered with the Provo High Schools POP (People of the Pacific) class to welcome 8th graders from Dixon and Centennial middle schools to Provo High. In addition to performing cultural dances and songs, our ITAT students gave new students and parents an introduction to what ITAT does at Provo High School (diabetes and tobacco advocacy to the Utah community and Polynesian communities specifically). It was a great evening sharing with the students and parents about the juuling epidemic and how Big tobacco targets our youth. TOBACCO FACTS: -7300 Utah High Schoolers smoke regularly -7.6% of Utah teens use e-cigarettes regularly -800 Utah high schoolers become daily smokers each year -Tobacco use is the #1 preventable cause of disease, disability, death in the U.S. -95% of adults smokers start smoking before the age of 21 -$897.6 million are spent annually on medical expenses and lost productivity due to tobacco use in Utah -75% of current smokers ages 15-17 report obtaining cigarettes from friends and classmates -84% of teens admitted they would not use electronic tobacco products if they were not flavored -Over 190,000 Utah adults are smokers (Utah DOH, center4research.com ) DIABETES FACTS: -90-95% of people with diabetes have type II diabetes -African-americans, pacific islanders, Asian-americans, and Hispanic communities are at higher risk for type II diabetes -When someone has type II diabetes, they produce enough insulin but cannot use it effectively in their body -The rate of diabetes in children in Utah is increasing every year (https://ibis.health.utah.gov, https://healthcare.utah.edu) Visit Our Site Let's be buddies ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌   ‌