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1992.12.02 :  Teen Smoking

Contact: Sandra Smith (301) 436-7551 Jeffrey Lancashire (301)
436-7135
December 2, 1992

       The majority of teen-age smokers expect to quit smoking
within a year, but three-fourths of those who try to quit are
unsuccessful, according to a comprehensive survey released today
by HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.
       "Teen-agers greatly underestimate the addictiveness of
tobacco and greatly overestimate their ability to control it,"
Secretary Sullivan said.  "By far, the surest way to be a non-
smoker is to never start," he said.  
       An estimated 3.7 million U.S. teen-agers (16 percent) were
current cigarette smokers and an additional 6.8 million teen-
agers (29 percent) had experimented with cigarettes.  Among 16-18
year-olds, about 25 percent were currently smoking and an
additional 34 percent had experimented with cigarettes.  Girls
were as likely to smoke as boys, and white teen-agers were three
times more likely to smoke than black teens.  
       These findings are from the 1989 Teen-age Attitudes and
Practices Survey conducted by the National Center for Health
Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in
collaboration with CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, the
National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.   The
survey interviewed a nationwide sample of 10,000 youth 12 to 18
years of age to learn more about patterns of teen-age smoking.
       Researchers found teens most likely to smoke if family and
friends were smokers.  Teen-agers were three times more likely to
smoke (37 percent) if their parents and at least one older
sibling smoked than if no one in the household smoked (12
percent).  
       However, the smoking practices of older brothers or
sisters living at home were more closely associated with teen-
ager smoking than was parental smoking.  Thirty percent of
adolescents were smokers in homes where only older siblings
smoked, compared with 15 percent of teen-agers from homes where
only their parents smoked.   
       The greatest influence appeared to be close friends. 
Among teen-agers whose close friends of the same sex did not
smoke, only 3 percent were smokers.  However, almost half of
those with at least two close friends who smoked were smokers
themselves.  
       Teens who did not participate in organized activities,
including sports, who were below average students or who did not
like school very much were two to four times more likely to smoke
than teens who did well in school or were involved in competitive
sports and other physical activities.  
       The survey also found that teens who engaged in risk-
taking behavior, such as riding with a driver who used alcohol or
drugs, riding a motorcycle or minibike or physical fighting were
more likely to be smokers.  The same was true for teens who had
more unsupervised time at home or who had skipped school.   
       The survey did not examine the possible influence of
tobacco advertising and promotion on teen smoking practices. 
Recent studies have suggested that these factors may play an
important role in encouraging youths to start smoking.  
       "The more we know about the factors that influence a teen-
ager to smoke, the more successful we can be in reaching children
and young teens and preventing what is for many a lifelong
habit," according to James Mason, M.D., assistant secretary for
health and head of the U.S. Public Health Service.  
       Teens who believed that it is safe to smoke for one or two
years, who believed that cigarettes help people relax or that
smoking helps keep weight down were two to four times more likely
to smoke than teen-agers who did not agree with those statements. 
            "Teens who know the facts about smoking are certainly
less likely to smoke," said William L. Roper, M.D., director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  "We must make
sure that teens learn these facts in time to make the right
decision," he said.  
       Copies of "Recent Trends in Adolescent Smoking, Smoking-
Uptake Predictors, and Expectations About the Future," are
available from NCHS, 6525 Belcrest Rd., Hyattsville, Md. 20782.
       CDC, which includes NCHS, is one of the eight Public
Health Service agencies in HHS.

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