An anti-smoking project which has tracked 15-year-olds in Co Leitrim over the past five years came to an end yesterday with a meeting in Carrick-on-Shannon of all the pupils who have taken part.
The scheme, aimed at reducing the number of children who start to smoke in the critical years from age 10 to 15, and in particular in the transition from primary to secondary school, has been taken up by four other countries. Materials devised for Smoke Free Leitrim are now being used in similar projects in Scotland, Germany, Sweden and the Canary Islands.
A detailed evaluation of the programme, which will involve comparing attitudes among the Leitrim teenagers to a control group in Co Donegal, will be carried out over the coming months, and final results will be given at a conference in September.
In the North Western Health Board initiative, every fourth-class pupil in Co Leitrim was targeted five years ago. Project worker Mary McHugh said 9 to 10-year-olds were picked because it was felt their attitudes were still open to influence.
She said that while the formal evaluation was just beginning, feedback to date was very positive. One school estimated a 70 per cent reduction in the numbers smoking.
Leitrim was chosen because there were a workable number of schools and the county's population was growing after years of decline, she said.
The rate of smoking among young people was also high. A 1999 study found that one-third of 15 to 17-year-olds were smokers.
Ms McHugh said it was decided a different approach was needed, because efforts to cut smoking had been successful among adults but not among teenagers. The programme involved regular smoking awareness classes, smoking cessation sessions led by trained teachers, and an emphasis on healthy, active lifestyles.
A no-smoking policy was also drawn up by teachers, pupils and parents in each school. The wider community, through the Leitrim Partnership Board and the county council, was also involved.
The principal of Lough Allen College in Drumkeerin, Ms Stephanie Gibbons, said she believed the programme had reduced significantly the numbers of students smoking. "Before, smoking had a certain attraction for young people, it was `cool'. Now, non-smoking has become the norm. The older students, the trend-setters in the school, no longer smoked and their example was pivotal," Ms Gibbons said.
As a follow-up, a peer education programme is now being established with 30 young people. The evaluation will include pupils, teachers and parents in both the target and control groups.
Ms McHugh said the project had put a lot of extra work on schools and they had all stayed involved throughout. Yesterday's event, an activities day for the 450 pupils, was "a clap on the back" for them.