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Youth and Tobacco Use: Current Estimates
Fact Sheet
December 2003
Full document in Adobe Acrobat Format (
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Cigarette Smoking
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22.9% of high school students in the
United States are current
cigarette smokers.1 Estimates are slightly higher for males
(24.6%) than for females (21.2%).1
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25.5% of whites, 20.5% of Hispanics, 14.3% of African
Americans, and 12.8% of Asian Americans in high school are current
cigarette smokers.1
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10.1% of middle school students in this country are
current cigarette smokers,1 with estimates similar for males
(10.2%) and females (10.0%).1
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10.4% of whites, 9.4% of African Americans, 9.1% of
Hispanics, and 7.4% of Asian Americans in middle school are current
cigarette smokers.1
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Each day, nearly 4,400 young people between the ages of
12 and 17 years initiate cigarette smoking in the United States.2
In this age group, each day an estimated 2,000 young people become daily
cigarette smokers in this country.2
State Estimates
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11.6% of high school students are current cigar smokers,
with estimates higher for males (16.9%) than for females (6.2%).1
Nationally, an estimated 6.0% of all middle school students are current
cigar smokers, with estimates of 7.9% for males and 4.1% for females.1
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An estimated 10.8% of males in high school are current
smokeless tobacco users,1 as are an estimated 5.6% of males in
middle school.1
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An estimated 2.6% of high school students are current
users of bidis; bidi use is more common among males (3.7%) than females
(1.5%).1 An estimated 2.4% of middle school students are bidi
users, with estimates of 3.1% for males and 1.7% for females.1
Factors Associated with Tobacco Use among Youth
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Factors associated with youth tobacco use include low
socioeconomic status, use and approval of tobacco use by peers or
siblings, smoking by parents or guardians, accessibility and availability
of tobacco products, a perception that tobacco use is normative, lack of
parental support or involvement, low levels of academic achievement, lack
of skills to resist influences to tobacco use, lower self-image or
self-esteem, belief in functional benefits of tobacco use, and lack of
self-efficacy to refuse offers of tobacco.3,4
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Tobacco use in adolescence is associated with many other
health risk behaviors, including higher risk sexual behavior and use of
alcohol or other drugs.3
For Further Information:
Office
on Smoking and Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National
Center
for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
770–488–5705
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco
Media
Inquiries: Contact the Office on Smoking and Health’s press line at
770–488–5493.
References
1. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Tobacco use among middle and high school students—United States,
2002. MMWR. 2003;52:1096-1098.
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Administration. 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Trends in
Initiation of Substance Abuse. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, 2003. Available at:
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda.htm#2k1NHSDA. Date of
Access: August 26, 2003.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Preventing Tobacco Use among Young People: A Report of the
Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994.
4. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report
of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and
Health, 2000
Information available as of December
2003; next update is scheduled for December 2004. More recent estimates may
be available at the Office on Smoking and Health's
Web site (http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco).
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