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Pattern of Tobacco Use Among Women and Girls
Fact
Sheet
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Cigarette smoking was rare among women
in the early 20th century. Cigarette smoking
became prevalent among women after it
did among men, and smoking prevalence
has always been lower among women than
among men. However, the gender-specific
difference in smoking prevalence narrowed
between 1965 and 1985. Since 1985, the
decline in prevalence among men and
women has been comparable.
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Smoking prevalence decreased among
women from 33.9%
in
1965 to 22.0% in
1998. Most of this decline occurred from
1974 through 1990; prevalence declined
very little from 1992 through 1998.
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The prevalence of current smoking is three
times higher among women with 9-11 years
of education
(32.9%) than among women
with 16 or more years of education
(11.2%).
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Smoking prevalence is higher among
women living below the poverty level
(29.6%) than among those living at or
above the poverty level (21.6%).
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In 1997-1998, 34.5% of American Indian or
Alaska Native, 23.5% of white, 21.9% of
African American, 13.8% of Hispanic, and
11.2% Asian/Pacific Islander women were
current smokers.
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Among white women and African American
women, smoking prevalence decreased
from 1965 through 1998. The prevalence
of current smoking was generally
comparable, but
from
1970
through
1985
it was highersome
years significantly so
among African
American women.
In
1990,
it
was
higher among white women in 1990.
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From 1965 through 1998, the decline in
smoking prevalence among Hispanic
women was significantly less than among
white and African American women.
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Among Asian American or Pacific Islander
women, smoking prevalence decreased
from 1979 through 1992, but then
increased from 1995 through 1998.
Prevalence changed little from 1979
through 1998 among American Indian or
Alaska Native women.
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Among high school
senior girls,
past-month
current
smoking
rates
decreased from 39.9% in 1977
to 25.8% in 1992, but increased to 35.3%
during 1997. In 2000, smoking prevalence
declined again to 29.7%.
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Much of the progress in reducing smoking
prevalence among girls in the 1970s and
1980s was lost with the increase in
prevalence in the 1990s. Current smoking
rates among high school senior girls were
the same in 2000 as in 1988.
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In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the
prevalence of smoking among high school
seniors was higher among girls than among
boys, but the decline in smoking prevalence
from 1976 through 1992 was more rapid
among girls than among boys. Since the
mid 1980s, smoking prevalence among
girls and boys has been similar.
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From 1991 to 1996, current smoking
prevalence in the past 30 days increased
from 13.1% to 21.1% among 8th grade girls
but decreased to 14.7% in 2000. Among
10th grade girls, current smoking prevalence
in the past 30 days increased from 20.7%
in 1991 to 31.1% in 1997 but decreased to
23.6% in 2000.
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Aggregated data from 1976-1977 through
1991-1992 showed a dramatic decline in
past-month cigarette smoking among
African American high school senior girls
(from 37.5% to 7.0%) compared with the
decline among white girls (from 39.9% to
31.2%). From 1991-1992 through 1997-1998, past-month smoking prevalence
increased among white girls (from 31.2% to
41.0%) and African American girls (from
7.0% to 12.0%) -- but the increase was
statistically significant only among white
girls.
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In 1990-1994, smoking prevalence for high
school senior girls was highest among
American Indians or Alaska Natives
(39.4%) and whites (33.1%) and lowest
among Hispanics (19.2%), Asian
Americans or Pacific Islanders (13.8%),
and African Americans (8.6%).
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Smoking among young women (aged 18
through 24 years) declined from 37.3% in
1965-1966 to 25.1% in 1997-1998.
However, recent trends show that smoking
rates in this population may be rising.
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In 1998, nearly 14 million women of
reproductive age were smokers, and
smoking prevalence in this group was
higher (25.3%) than in the overall
population of women aged 18 years or
older (22.0%).
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Despite increased knowledge of the
adverse health effects of smoking during
pregnancy, survey data suggest that a
substantial number of pregnant women and
girls smoke. Cigarette smoking during
pregnancy declined from 19.5% in 1989 to
12.9% in 1998.
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Smoking prevalence during pregnancy
differs by age and by race and ethnicity. In
1998, smoking prevalence during
pregnancy was consistently highest among
young adult women aged 18 through 24
(17.1%) and lowest among women aged 25
through 49 (10.5%).
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Smoking during pregnancy declined among
women of all racial/ethnic populations.
From 1989 to 1998, smoking among
American Indian or Alaska Native pregnant
women decreased from 23.0% to 20.2%;
among pregnant white women from 21.7%
to 16.2%; African American pregnant
women from 17.2% to 9.6%; Hispanic
pregnant women from 8.0% to 4.0%; and
Asian American or Pacific Islander
pregnant women from 5.7% to 3.1%.
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In 1998, there was nearly a 12-fold
difference among pregnant women who
smokeranging from 25.5 percent among
mothers with 9-11 years of education to 2.2
percent among mothers with 16 or more
years of education.
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The level of nicotine dependence is
strongly associated with the quantity of
cigarettes smoked per day.
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When results are stratified by the number
of cigarettes smoked per day, girls and
women who smoke appear to be equally
dependent on nicotine, as measured by
first cigarette after waking, smoking for a
calming and relaxing effect, withdrawal
symptoms, or other measures of nicotine
dependence.
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Of the women who smoke, more than
three-fourths report one or more indicators
of nicotine dependence, and nearly three-fourths report feeling dependent on
cigarettes.
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More than three-fourths (75.2%) of women
want to quit smoking completely, and nearly
half (46.6%) report having tried to quit
during the previous year.
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In 1998, the percentage of people who had
ever smoked and who had quit was lower
among women (46.2%) than among men
(50.9%). This finding may be because men
began to stop smoking earlier in the 20th
century than did women and because these
data do not take into account that men are
more likely than women to switch to, or to
continue to use, other tobacco products
when they stop smoking.
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Since the late 1970s or early 1980s, the
probability of attempting to quit smoking
and succeeding has been equal among
women and men.
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The use of cigars, pipes, and smokeless
tobacco among women is generally low, but
recent data suggest that cigar smoking
among women and girls is increasing.
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A California study found that current cigar
smoking among women increased
five-fold
from 1990 through 1996.
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The prevalence of cigar use appears to be
higher among adolescent girls than among
women. In 1999, past-month cigar use
among high school girls younger than 18
was 9.8%.
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The prevalence of pipe smoking among
women is low, and women are much less
likely than men to smoke a pipe.
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The prevalence of smokeless tobacco use
among girls and women is low and remains
considerably lower than that among boys
and men.
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For tobacco use other than cigarettes
among high school girls, cigar use is the
most common, bidi and kretek use
are intermediate, and pipe and
smokeless tobacco use are the
least common.
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