Anti-smoking campaigns have succeeded in significantly reducing the number of high-school students listed as heavy smokers from 1991 to 2009, according to research released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 8 percent of high-school students were considered heavy smokers in 2009, which is defined as smoking at least 11 cigarettes a day. That’s compared with 18 percent in 1991.
However, the analysis of the national Youth Risk Behavior annual surveys also found that among high-school students who smoke, 79 percent were listed as light smokers in 2009 compared with 67 percent in 1991.
Researchers defined light smokers as those who smoke one to four cigarettes a day.
The report was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Though researchers were encouraged by the decline in heavy smoking, “even light cigarette use is associated with detrimental health effects and because many light cigarette users progress to daily and heavy cigarette smoking, efforts to reduce all cigarette use are critical.”
According to the CDC, about 20.6 percent of adult Americans smoke, or 46 million, as well as 19.5 percent of high schoolers. Those percentages have remained stable since 2004, a source of frustration for anti-smoking groups
“Public health experts say progress is being hindered by continued high levels of tobacco marketing, deep funding cuts to state tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and uneven application across the country of tobacco control measures, such as smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes,” according to The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
For example, the North Carolina General Assembly in June approved transferring the money allocated to the state’s Health and Wellness Fund for tobacco prevention and cessation programs for fiscal years 2011-13 to help offset the state’s budget shortfall. Many programs with existing funding contracts would be allowed to continue until their money was depleted.
The General Assembly took that action even though it has been shown that for every $1 the fund spends on programs, “an estimated $2.54 is generated in financial benefits, resulting in a total annual cost savings of more than $137 million overall,” according to the fund.
The number of high-school students listed as light smokers rose among both genders and white students. The rate of heavy smokers rose among Hispanics – 3.1 percent to 6.4 percent – while the prevalence of light and heavy smokers remained unchanged among black students.
Researchers found that females were more likely to be light smokers and males heavy smokers.
“The changes in smoking patterns among high-school students may reflect the passing and enforcement of state-level tobacco-control policies, including the enforcement of underage sales laws,” the researchers said. “Additionally, increases in smokefree homes and workplaces may reflect increases in family and social norms against smoking.”
Students completed voluntary, anonymous, self-administered questionnaires. The number of students participating in the annual survey ranged from 10,904 to 16,410 during the years that ranged from 1991 and 2009.