WOMEN AND GIRLS AND TOBACCO

Part I of a 4 part Series

Smoking among both men and women decreased gradually as the dangers of smoking became widely known. However, smoking rates have hardly declined at all in the last ten years; and women – who once smoked at half the rate of men – are now almost as likely to smoke as men.
Recent increases in smoking by high school girls suggest that the problem may worsen. Gender differences in the cultural and social influences on smoking, consumption patterns, health effects, and responses to tobacco marketing and promotion require that tobacco use among women be considered separately from general discussions on the topic. Smoking by
women is a serious, widespread public health problem that must be addressed.

Prevalence
Twenty-two percent of American adult women are current smokers, compared to 26 percent of men. Caucasian and African-American women smoke in roughly equal proportions (23% vs. 21%).

American Indian women (38%) smoke at much higher rates, while much smaller proportions of Hispanic (13%) and Asian (10%) women smoke.

1 · Smoking prevalence is higher among women with 9-11 years of education (32.9%) than women with 13-15 years of education (22.8%) and three times higher than women with 16 or more years of education (11.2%).

2 · Smoking among girls and young women has increased dramatically in the 1990s. From 1991 to 1999, smoking among high school girls increased from 27 to 34.9 percent.

3 · In 1997, smoking among female high school seniors reached a 19-year high of 35.2 percent, declining to 29.7 percent in 2000.

4 · A report published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that girls have an easier time buying cigarettes than boys, even at the youngest ages.

Next time the Health Effects of Smoking on Women