It is estimated that each year, one million children start smoking in the United States (Khuder, Dayal, and Mutgi 1999), with most children initiating the habit during early adolescence (Khuder et al. 1999; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS)1992). Since tobacco attitudes and behaviors develop during childhood and adolescence, prevention programs targeting youth during this time period are imperative (Beaglehold et al. 1978; O'Connell et al. 1981). Research indicates that approaches recognizing both social influences to smoke and misperceptions of peer normative behavior are the most effective in reducing tobacco use among youth (Dusenbury and Falco 1995; USDHHS 2001). During the past decade, various agencies and researchers have developed recommendations to assist educational settings in delivering tobacco prevention messages to both children and adolescents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for School Health Programs to Prevent Tobacco Use and Addiction are a prime example of these recommendations. Unfortunately, despite these recommendations, few schools are implementing programs that meet each of the CDC's criteria (Surgeon General Report 2000; Wenter et al. 2002). Danya International, Inc., proposes to develop and evaluate a multifaceted smoking prevention product that includes all seven CDC guidelines designed to educate middle school students about the social influences of smoking. The content, format, and design process will draw from the state-of-the-art research findings and will emphasize a social marketing approach to facilitate prevention efforts in an educational setting. Youth will be involved in the development and production of the proposed smoking prevention intervention.
