Food Council to campaign vs betel nut chewing with tobacco

The CNMI Food and Nutrition Council will carry out more educational campaign against mixing tobacco with betel nut for children in the next millennium, according to Pamela Mathis, Council’s board chair.

In a recent meeting, the board of directors has expressed concern on the effect of using tobacco which is illegal for persons under 18 years of age due to the risks of having oral cancer (disease related to gums and mouth).

As far as adults are concerned, chewing betel nut with tobacco is a choice they have made. But since children cannot make an educated decision on this issue, the Council believes that it has to take a strong stand against the practice of mixing tobacco with betel nut.

During the meeting, Council members agreed to further carry out research on the effects of betel nut use by documenting the number of people who are now suffering from oral cancer.

The campaign for the next millennium, Ms. Mathis said, will focus on the danger of using tobacco since it has been found to cause cancer. “It is a nutrition problem that requires education,” she said.

An estimated 300 million people chew betel nut in one or variety of ways. Many people mix the nut with a white-lime paste, wrap it in betel leaf and pop it in the mouth for a satisfying crunch. Others however, have started mixing it with cigarette or tobacco.

Dr. Linda Randall, a resident dental hygienist of the Seventh-Day Adventist Dental Clinic, has warned the people against the dangers of betel nut chewing and mixing it with tobacco.

According to Ms. Randall, betel nut chewing should be considered equally harmful as tobacco because it causes damage to the cells and genes. Betel nut use alone does carry cancer risks.

Betel nut and tobacco can cause leukoplakia, which can lead to oral cancer, occurs in over half of all users in the first three years of use.

But when betel nut, which has already cancer producing agents, is mixed with tobacco, the risks of having oral cancer increases 10 times, Ms. Randall said. In fact, she recently discovered that one of his male patients who is in his early 30s has oral cancer.

Even before Ms. Randall raised the alarm, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez has warned the people against chewing of betel nut with cigarette as the Commonwealth Health Center has discovered cases of oral cancer on the island.

He expressed alarm on the fact that younger people now are chewing betel nut with tobacco since nicotine is addictive whether you chew it or smoke it.