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CDC report: Rate of decline in teenager smokers leveling off
MMWR. 2010;26:797-801.
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Analysis of the biennial national Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that the percentage of teenagers who ever smoked cigarettes, current smokers and current frequent smokers has decreased since 1991, but the pace of the decline has slowed since 2003.
The survey is a component of CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. Researchers used independent, three-stage cluster samples for the surveys to obtain cross-sectional data representative of public and private school students in grades 9 to 12 in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Students completed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires about their cigarette use.
From 1991 to 2009, the number of participating schools ranged from 110 to 159, and the number of participating students ranged from 10,904 to 16,410. Overall response rates ranged from 60% to 71%.
The prevalence of teenagers who ever tried smoking did not change from 1991 (70.1%) to 1999 (70.4%), then decreased to 58.4% in 2003. These latest results show that incidence has decreased more slowly since then and now stands at 46.3% in 2009.
Researchers found that the incidence of teenagers who were current smokers increased from 27.5% in 1991 to 36.4% in 1997, before decreasing to 21.9% in 2003. Prevalence further decreased to 19.5% in 2009.
Similarly, prevalence of current frequent cigarette use increased from 12.7% in 1991 to 16.8% in 1999, declined to 9.7% in 2003 and decreased more gradually to 7.3% in 2009.
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