The Facts About Youth & Tobacco
From the Centers for Disease Control
Cigarette Smoking
Twenty-three percent of high school students in the United States are current cigarette smokers—23% of females and 22.9% of males.
Approximately 26% of whites, 22% of Hispanics, and 13% of African Americans in high school are current cigarette smokers.
Eight percent of middle school students in this country are current cigarette smokers, with estimates slightly higher for females (9%) than males (8%).
Nine percent of whites, 10% of Hispanics, 8% of African Americans, and 3% of Asian Americans in middle school are current cigarette smokers.
Each day in the United States, approximately 4,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 years initiate cigarette smoking, and an estimated 1,140 young people become daily cigarette smokers.
Other Tobacco Use
Thirteen percent of high school students are current cigar smokers, with estimates higher for males (18%) than for females (8%).2
Nationally, an estimated 5% of all middle school students are current cigar smokers, with estimates of 7% for males and 4% for females.
An estimated 10% of males in high school are current smokeless tobacco users, as are an estimated 4% of males in middle school.
An estimated 3% of high school students are current users of bidis; bidi use is more common among males (4%) than females (2%). An estimated 2% of middle school students are bidi users, with estimates of 3% for males and 2% for females.
Risk Factors for Tobacco Use
Factors associated with youth tobacco use include:
- Use and approval of tobacco use by peers or siblings
- Smoking by parents or guardians
- Accessibility, availability and price 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
- Lack of self-efficacy to refuse offers of tobacco.
It is also worth noting that tobacco use in adolescence is associated with many other health risk behaviors, including higher risk sexual behavior and use of alcohol or other drugs.