| ■ Youth Smoking Varies by Racial/Ethnic Groups | 06.12.4 |
| Youth anti-smoking programs targeted at specific racial/ethnic groups in the United States need to be developed, suggests a study in this week's issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found wide variations in smoking among different ethnic/racial groups of youngsters ages 12 to 17. Rates of smoking in this age group were: 23.1 percent among American Indians/Alaska Natives; 14.9 percent among non-Hispanic whites; 9.3 percent among Hispanics; 6.5 percent among non-Hispanic blacks; and 4.3 percent among Asians. There were large variations in subgroups of these populations. For example, smoking among Asians ranged from 2.2 percent for Vietnamese to 6.8 percent for Koreans. Among Hispanics, smoking rates ranged from 7.3 percent for Central and South Americans to 11.2 percent for Cubans. The researchers also concluded that about 20 percent of nonsmokers ages 12 to 17 are susceptible to start smoking. ----- Yahoo Health |