95% of youths unaware smoking increases later life blindness
Of the 600 youngsters who start smoking every day, most are unaware there is a link to later life blindness according to the Macular Society which today launched the ‘Is it Real?’ campaign.
The campaign was launched to inform children of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the leading cause of blindness in developed countries. Furthermore smokers are over twice as likely to suffer from it than non-smokers.
A survey of 10-year-olds found that 95 per cent did not know that smoking increases the risk of blindness even though they ranked blindness as the ‘most feared’ consequence of smoking, ahead of heart disease, stroke and even lung cancer.
Ophthalmologist Phillip Moradi, who conducted the survey, said: “This is a paradox. Most young people are not aware that smoking can cause one of the medical conditions they fear most.
“We need to make sure the message is received and used as a positive force to motivate children and teenagers to stop smoking – a decision which will have a positive impact on their health and quality of life in the future.”
Conceived in close collaboration with Commonland, a research-led design company, the campaign was devised using workshops and creative research carried out with young people and older adults with the condition.
Tony Rucinski, chief executive of the Macular Society, said: “600 children in the UK start smoking every day. It is clear they do not know about the risk to their sight.
“Children must not be kept in the dark about smoking and blindness. Anti-smoking messages need to highlight it so that every child knows the danger.”
The campaign will be rolled out online, via social media and through Vivo Miles, a schools' reward platform with 1.4 million users.
The Macular Society is the specialist UK charity for people with all types of macular condition. It has more than 15,000 members.