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Cigarette Smoking
Among Adults — United States, 1997
MMWR Highlights
November 5, 1999 / Vol. 48 / No. 43
- An estimated 48 million (24.7 percent)
adults aged 18 years and older currently smoke in the United States---27.6 percent of men
and 22.1 percent of women.
- Data from 1993 (25.0 percent), 1994 (25.5
percent), 1995 (24.7 percent), and 1997 (24.7 percent) show that adult smoking has
remained unchanged in the 1990s and is falling short of the nation’s public health
goal of reducing smoking to no more than 15 percent by the year 2000.
- Historically, smokers aged 25-44 years had
the highest smoking prevalence; however, smokers age 18-24 and 25-44 years are smoking at
equal rates in 1997---28.7 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively.
- Current smoking prevalence among young
adults aged 18-24 years was 25.8 percent in 1993, 24.8 percent in 1995, and 28.7 percent
in 1997. Although the changes in smoking prevalence data were not statistically
significant for the years analyzed, the data suggest that smoking prevalence may be
increasing among young adults. There was no significant change in smoking among adults
aged 25-44 for the same period---29.2 percent in 1993 and 28.6 percent in 1995 and 1997.
- Smoking prevalence was higher among
American Indians/Alaska Natives (34.1 percent), African Americans (26.7 percent), and
whites (25.3 percent) than among Hispanics (20.4 percent) and Asian/Pacific Islanders
(16.9 percent). Smoking prevalence among the various race/ethnic populations remained
fairly stable in recent years.
- Adults with 9-11 years of education had
higher smoking prevalence (35.4 percent) than adults with 16 or more years of education
(11.6 percent).
- Smoking prevalence was higher among adults
living below the poverty level (33.3 percent) than those living at or above the poverty
level (24.6 percent).
- An estimated 44 million adults (25.1
million men and 19.2 million women) were former smokers, which remains unchanged from
1995. Of the current everyday adult smokers in 1997, approximately 16 million quit smoking
for at least one day during the last year.
- Preventing the onset of smoking among
young people is critical to the long-term success of tobacco control goals; however,
helping smokers quit is critical to reducing the health and financial burden attributed to
smoking in the short term. Smoking cessation guidelines published by the Agency for Health
Care Policy and Research provide a blueprint for health care professionals and health
insurance providers in implementing appropriate medical services that will help treat
nicotine addiction.
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