October 9, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The department of family medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has received a four-year $4.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study a program aimed at reducing the rate of smoking, especially among women of child-bearing age. The grant makes the department one of the top five departments of family medicine in the country based on total funding received from the National Institutes of Health.

“Our prior studies have targeted pregnant women who smoke,” says Myra Crawford, Ph.D., research associate professor and director of the division of family medicine research at UAB. “This study is aimed at reaching women before they become pregnant and encouraging those who don’t smoke to remain non-smokers and encouraging those who do smoke to stop.”

The Alabama Tobacco-Free Families program will be conducted in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in eight Alabama counties — Jefferson, Calhoun, Covington, Cullman, Houston, Lee, St. Clair and Walker. “By reducing the number of pregnant women who smoke, we can reduce the number of low birth weight babies born to women in these counties,” says Crawford. “Alabama has one of the highest low birth weight rates in the nation.”

The program also will target male partners of women who smoke. “Because studies have shown that 80 percent of pregnant women who smoke live with at least one other smoker, the program also will encourage partners and other family members to help create a home environment that supports a tobacco-free lifestyle,” says Crawford.

The program, which focuses on increasing the public’s knowledge and awareness about tobacco use and the risks it poses to mother, fetus and infant, will enlist the help of health providers and community organizations, as well as media. “The program will include a mass media campaign, community education through schools, churches and worksites, and will provide education and support to healthcare providers,” says Crawford.

Crawford is lead investigator for the study. Other researchers include Lesa Woodby, Ph.D., assistant professor of education at UAB; J. Michael Hardin, Ph.D., professor of health administration at UAB; Dr. Tom Miller, director of the Bureau of Family Health Services with ADPH; Jim McVay, Dr. P.A., director of health promotion and information with ADPH; Richard Windsor, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of prevention and community health at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Alan Blum with the department of family medicine at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.