By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's tobacco settlement money should aim to
help children "avoid the addiction of a lifetime,"
said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher.

---

Surgeon general
has prescription
for Hawaii

Healthier living can help
end the racial and ethnic health
disparity, he says

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Protecting Hawaii's children from becoming addicted to cigarettes should be the state's top priority when it spends the tobacco settlement money, said the U.S. surgeon general yesterday.

"The state has a major responsibility to help children avoid the addiction of a lifetime," said Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher at the American Medical Association meeting in the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

"We hope it will be used for prevention education, especially for young people," said Satcher, sworn in as U.S. surgeon general Feb. 13.

Satcher gave the AMA his prescription for a healthier America: Exercise moderately at least five times a week, 30 minutes a day; eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day; avoid toxins, especially tobacco, illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol; and engage in responsible sexual behavior, abstaining when appropriate.

"Every child should have the opportunity for a healthy start in life," Satcher said. "With parents ready to be parents, safe pregnancies and safe, nurturing environments free from tobacco, which can lead to asthma."

For his work in creating Healthy Start, Dr. Calvin C. Sia of Honolulu received the Benjamin Rush Award for citizenship and community service at the AMA meeting.

Sia played a primary role in the fight against child abuse and helped create the Children's Protective Center and Hawaii Family Health Center, which launched Project Healthy Start, said AMA President Dr. Nancy Dickey.

Healthy Start identifies at-risk infants at birth and provides home visits, support and follow-up services. The program has been adopted around the nation.

Sia said in accepting the award: "As caring physicians, we recognize children are our most valuable assets. We must break lousy outcomes by preventive care."

A community's commitment to healthier lifestyles, in addition to personal responsibility, can help end disparity in health among race and ethnicity, the surgeon general said.

"Native Hawaiians suffer disproportionately from diabetes and some cancers," Satcher said. "Through early diagnosis and tight control, these diseases can often be curbed and eliminated."