CATCH My Breath is the only evidence-based youth nicotine vaping prevention program for grades 5-12 that has been proven to substantially reduce students’ likelihood of vaping. A peer-reviewed study of CATCH My Breath found that students in schools that implemented the program were half as likely to experiment with e-cigarettes over the following 16 months, compared with those in schools that did not receive the program. The publication of the findings in Public Health Reports – the official journal of the U.S. Surgeon General – makes CATCH My Breath the first evidence-based vaping prevention program. The study also found the program increased student knowledge of vaping dangers and positive perceptions about choosing a vape-free lifestyle. Kelder, S. H., Mantey, D. S., Van Dusen, D., Case, K., Haas, A., & Springer, A. E. (2020). A Middle School Program to Prevent E-Cigarette Use: A Pilot Study of “CATCH My Breath.” Public Health Reports, 135(2), 220–229. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354919900887

The Halifax County Health Department works with local middle schools in Halifax County Schools, Roanoke Rapids Graded School District and Weldon City Schools to implement CATCH My Breath.  The curriculum is offered during the school day during the PE class and is offered to 7th and 8th grade students. Currently the program is the planning and establishing partnerships with the school administration and faculty. 

The overall goal of CATCH My Breath is to prevent the initiation of e-cigarette use among preteen and teen adolescents. The program is designed to help students:

• Discover that non-use of e-cigarettes is the norm for adolescents
• Identify reasons why young people might start using e-cigarettes
• Recognize the subtle, and not so subtle, messages in e-cigarette advertising
• Practice skills for resisting peer pressure and advertising pressure to use e-cigarettes
• Decide on their personal reasons not to use e-cigarettes and set goals for future non-use

The intended outcomes are to ensure that students will:

• Resist their own curiosity, peer and advertising pressure to experiment with e-cigarettes
• Understand that e-cigarettes are addictive, unhealthy, and not as popular as they think
• Influence friends and peers not to use e-cigarettes