As is noted in the following section, lung cancer occur-rence rates among African American males are higher than whites as well. If current patterns continue, an estimated 1.6 million African Americans who are now under the age of 18 will become regular smokers. About 500,000 of those smokers will die of a smoking-related disease. Smoking declined dramatically among African American youths during the 1970s and 1980s, but has increased substantially during the 1990s. The numbers suggest that Hispanics smoke a lot less than the national average.
Hispanic women are less likely than Hispanic men to be current smokers.
Only 14.3 percent of Hispanic females report current smoking compared with 26.2 percent of Hispanic men. During the same years, the rate of increase for white students was 25 percent, from 30.9 percent in 1991 to 38.6 percent in 1999. Nonetheless, unlike the general population, smoking rates among Asian and Pacific Islander women increases with age. There are significant variations in smoking rates among Asian Americans and Pacific Islander groups. Smoking rates among Native Americans vary greatly by region.