CDC: Fewer High School Students Smoking
A survey of the nation's high-school students by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the teen smoking
rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, the
Associated Press reported June 17.
According to the study, 22 percent of high-school students said
they smoked in 2003, down from 36 percent in 1997. Last year, 58
percent of students said they tried smoking, a substantial drop
from the 70 percent of students who tried smoking in 1999.
The CDC said anti-smoking efforts and the high cost of cigarettes
have been successful in reducing teen smoking and discouraging adolescents
from starting.
"We are reaching all the youth. If we can stop youth from
becoming addicted smokers, eventually we can stop this epidemic,"
said Terry Pechanek, associate director of science for the CDC's
Office on Smoking and Health. "We're starting to turn the corner
on that -- we're making the progress we've been working toward for
the last 40 years."
However, the CDC said other studies have shown that the decline
in teen smoking is slowing because states have cut funding for tobacco-prevention
programs, while cigarette makers have doubled spending on tobacco
advertising.
The study appears in the June 18 edition of the CDC's Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report.
|
