Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Honors Carina Chen of Oklahoma City, OK as 2025 National Youth Advocate of the Year

, /PRNewswire/ -- Carina Chen, 17, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been named the Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Carina will be honored for her leadership in the fight against tobacco on May 8 at Tobacco-Free Kids' 2025 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards in Washington D.C.

Carina has been a leader in working to reduce youth tobacco use in Oklahoma. Motivated by the impact of smoking on her family and community, Carina became a tobacco prevention advocate and joined Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL), a youth-led initiative sponsored by the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust. She has worked to raise awareness in her community about the dangers of tobacco use and how to access prevention and cessation resources. Carina also advocated to include robust tobacco prevention education in the wellness policies of Oklahoma City Public Schools and led a vaping education campaign at her school, integrating mental health awareness with tobacco prevention. In 2022, at the state level, she successfully advocated for the Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act, which prioritized education and cessation over punishment in addressing youth use of tobacco products.

Carina's commitment to public health advocacy extends beyond tobacco. As the co-founder of Plover, a student-led nonprofit, she has helped mobilize over 300 students nationwide to donate more than 100,000 hygiene products to marginalized communities and raise over $11,000 for public health initiatives.

"We are thrilled to honor Carina Chen as our Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year," said Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Through her passionate, persistent and creative advocacy, she represents a new generation leading the fight for a healthier future." 

The National Youth Advocate of the Year Award is named after the late Barrie Fiske, a tireless champion for the right to breathe smoke-free air and a longtime member of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Board of Directors. Carina will receive a scholarship to continue her tobacco prevention efforts and serve as a youth ambassador for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. She will be honored on May 8 along with other youth advocates and public health leaders from the United States and around the world.

Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing over 490,000 Americans and costing the nation $241 billion in tobacco-related health care costs each year.

In Oklahoma, tobacco use claims 7,500 lives annually and costs $1.9 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, 4.3% of Oklahoma high school students smoke cigarettes and 21.8% use e-cigarettes.

Additional information about the youth award winners can be found at tfk.org/awards and more resources and information about tobacco can be found at tobaccofreekids.org.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids