Members of the group REAL of Hawaii have been named Youth Advocates of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for their leadership in the anti-tobacco movement.

Members of REAL will be recognized last night in Washington, D.C., along with a national, individual winner and four regional winners.

REAL, founded after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, was one of the nation's first statewide, youth-led tobacco control movements. Over the past decade, members of REAL have worked to gain adult support and recognition for youth activism.

They have lobbied for a statewide smoke-free workplace law and advocated for a tobacco tax increase that passed on the first try.

With no paid media support, REAL works through peer-to-peer marketing and grassroots mobilization. Their most notable achievements include a "Girl Talk" campaign in response to marketing of cigarettes they say are aimed at youth and "Youth Unite for Kick Butts Day," an all-day event at the state Capitol.

More than 400 public health, political, civic and business leaders will attend the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 13th annual anniversary dinner tonight to recognize these young leaders.

The winners will receive educational scholarships and grants to continue their prevention efforts and serve as ambassadors for the Campaign.

"Members of REAL, along with other young leaders from across the nation, are making great strides against youth tobacco addiction and their voices are being heard," said Matthew L. Myers, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president. "Every day, 1,000 kids in the United States become regular smokers and one-third of them will die prematurely from tobacco-caused disease. Almost 90 percent of adult smokers began at or before the age of 18. Youth are powerful allies in the fight to turn these trends around."

In Hawaii, almost 13 percent of high school students smoke, and 1,600 kids become daily smokers every year.