National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the U.S. Department of Health created a free SMS service program called SmokefreeTXT, which will provide support for 24 hours of advice and tips to help teens quit smoking.
Quite easy, teens just need to register and select a reasonable time to quit smoking. After that, a text message (SMS) in accordance with the selected time will be sent on a regular basis.
Teens who have registered will continue to receive SMS for 6 weeks. Experts say six weeks is a critical time, because that's when most people need support to stay away from tobacco forever.
U.S. government agencies also provide a website where teens can share stories with other teens about their efforts to quit smoking.
SmokefreeTXT is part of the Department of Health and Human Services U.S. to develop mobile health programs in America. The federal agency has designed a mobile program with a team of experts for several years.
In early 2012, smokefree Teen program will launch a free smartphone application called QuitSTART, which is an interactive smoking cessation guidelines for adolescents who provide support and mood management tips, the desire to smoke and smoking cessation trial monitors, very similar to SMS program.
"With 75 percent of children between the ages of 12 to 17 years old have a cell phone, there is great potential of mobile technology to influence health awareness and behavior change among adolescents," said Erik Augustson, behavioral scientists at the NCI Tobacco Control Research Branch, as reported by CNN, Tuesday (03/01/2012).
According to the NCI, 20 percent of American teens and the majority of smokers will continue smoking with age. Although many teens who want to quit, but many others do not know how. So NCI expect in a modern way this will help some teens through the difficult process of quitting smoking now.
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