Advertisement

  Stock Sponsor
Click here for full stock listings


Last updated: July 9, 2009 1:35 p.m.

State youth smoking rates lowest on record

By Michael Schroeder
The Journal Gazette
Advertisement

Indiana youth smoking rates have dropped to the lowest levels on record, according to a new report released today by a state tobacco cessation and prevention organization.

Smoking rates among high school students dropped from 23.2 percent in 2006 to 18.3 percent in 2008, Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation reported, marking a decline of 21 percent. That’s according to a confidential survey of about 3,700 students in the state.

Middle school smoking rates were nearly halved, dropping from 7.7 percent in 2006 to 4.1 percent in 2008, based on a survey of about 3,300 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.

In addition, teen "established smokers" – those who had smoked at least 20 of the 30 days before being surveyed – dropped by more than 25 percent, from 11.7 percent in 2006 to 8.7 percent in 2008. This was seen as a particularly encouraging sign because this group is most likely to become lifelong smokers and therefore most at risk for lung cancer and other problems later.

Compared with 2000 – the first time the youth smoking surveys were conducted – high school rates have dropped 42 percent. Fewer than one in five teens surveyed in 2008 smoked, compared with nearly one in three teens in 2000. Where about one in 10 middle school-aged children smoked in 2000, the number was closer to one in 24 last year.

Indiana youth smoking surveys weren’t conducted before 2000, so an apples-to-apples comparison can’t be made with data derived before that. But in older studies teen smoking rates were "never below 30 percent," said Karla Sneegas, executive director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation.

In all, 52 middle schools and 47 high schools were randomly selected for the 2008 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sneegas thinks an increase in smoking bans around the state – including Fort Wayne’s comprehensive ban – and the 2007 cigarette tax hike, along with education efforts, contributed to the youth smoking decline. Teen attitudes are changing as well, said Sneegas, the mother of a teen. A high percentage think public places and workplaces should be smoke-free, she said.

A more detailed version of the ITPC survey is expected to be released later this year.

mschroeder@jg.net