Kansas City Kids to Wage Tar Wars

Bring Tar Wars(R), the Academy's tobacco-free education program, to 30,000 students -- many of them minorities -- in 1,000 classrooms in one metro area this year? It may sound like a pipe dream, but it's already on its way to reality.

The Tar Wars Project in Greater KC begins this month, thanks to $118,800 in support from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Family physicians and other health care professionals will begin to blanket schools in the Kansas City metro area with Tar Wars presentations this spring.

"This project will present Tar Wars to a more diverse population of kids than we've reached in this area, and we'll have greater diversity among our presenters," said FP Julie Wood, M.D., of Lee's Summit, Mo., a Tar Wars adviser. "This is the first major foundation grant for a metro area for the Academy's Tar Wars program. We hope it will serve as a pilot project and will give other state Tar Wars coordinators ideas for how to reach more kids and fund their programs."

Family medicine residents and medical students -- many of whom represent minority groups -- will help family physicians and other health care professionals present the Tar Wars program to fourth- and fifth-graders in three Missouri counties and three Kansas counties in the Kansas City metro area.

Tar Wars data indicate the states of Missouri and Kansas lag behind national figures for minority student participation rates. In 2004, for example, about 72 percent of Tar Wars participants nationwide were white and about 21 percent were from minority groups. In Kansas, about 90 percent of participants were white and about 6 percent were from minority groups. And in Missouri, about 85 percent were white and about 8 percent were from minority groups.

In the past, some schools have not had the resources to offer all the Tar Wars activities, said Wood. With grant funding, the curriculum, now available only online, will be offered in printed materials. Schools also may use grant funds for poster board and crayons so students can participate in the annual Tar Wars poster contest. Schools with Hispanic students will have access to handouts in Spanish and English and sample ads in both languages to combat tobacco companies' advertising campaigns. Each kit also will have materials students can take home to their parents, such as information on calling tobacco-cessation quitlines.

"The most revealing moment for me during Tar Wars presentations last fall was when I asked the class to estimate how many teenagers and adults were smokers. The answer: more than 90 percent," said FP Belinda Vail, M.D., of Kansas City, Kan. Data from federal sources indicate that 26 percent of 10th-grade students use tobacco and that 22 percent of adults do. "The youngsters' perception is that smoking is the 'normal' thing to do," said Vail. "We in the Kansas AFP are very excited about the program, and a number of our residents will be presenting it throughout the Kansas City area."

One aim of the project is for many KC kids to become peer advocates. "Peer influence is a strong motivator in this age group," said Wood. "Kids informed by Tar Wars will serve as positive role models for other kids."

In related news, Tar Wars advisers have developed an action plan to increase cultural diversity within Tar Wars across the country. "We've wanted to increase the program's diversity on a national level, and the Tar Wars Project in Greater KC is part of that effort," said Pamela Rodriguez, Tar Wars national manager. For more information, contact her at prodrig@aafp.org.