Trends in cigarette smoking in the United States: the changing influence of gender and race

Article Abstract:

Smoking patterns, including the number of cigarette smokers and the number of people stopping and starting smoking, were analyzed in terms of gender and race by the National Health Interview Surveys from 1974 to 1985. Smoking is considered to be the most preventable cause of premature death in the United States. Great effort has been made by public health professionals to decrease cigarette smoking in the last 25 years. The number men smoking has decreased linearly each year to 33.5 percent in 1985. Smoking by women decreased to 27.6 percent during the same period. Fewer men started smoking during the period, while the number of women starting to smoke remained the same. However, more women than men stopped smoking during the period. Smoking by whites and blacks decreased to 29.6 and 35.6 percent, respectively. Overall, fewer blacks than whites started smoking between 1974 and 1985. The prevalence of smoking has decreased for men and women, both black and white, although more slowly in women. A reduction in the number of people starting smoking, rather than the amount of those quitting the habit, is mostly responsible for the convergence of smoking patterns of men and women.

Women, Surveys, African Americans, Smokers, Men, Caucasian race, Whites

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Trends in cigarette smoking in the United States: educational differences are increasing

Article Abstract:

Education, rather than gender, is the primary sociodemographic factor determining the prevalence of smoking, according to an analysis of smoking patterns from 1974 to 1985. While the numbers of people smoking decreased across groups from all educational levels, the less educated stopped smoking five times more slowly than those at higher education levels. Twice as many people with four or more years of college quit smoking during the period than those without a high school diploma. In addition, fewer college-educated people started smoking than less educated people. The only demographic group in which the number of people starting to smoke cigarettes increased was less-educated women. However, this trend changed abruptly in 1987, when fewer less-educated women began to smoke. Nevertheless, the gap in the prevalence of smoking between groups of different levels of education suggests that health promotion efforts need to be evaluated.

Demographic aspects

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Trends in cigarette smoking in the United States: projections to the year 2000

Article Abstract:

A National Health Interview Survey from 1974 to 1985 projects that 22 percent (40 million) of adult Americans will be smokers by the year 2000. Major inequalities are projected in the smoking patterns among people with different educational backgrounds. Fewer than 10 percent of those with a college degree will smoke, while at least 30 percent of those whose education does not extend beyond high school smoke. Along the lines of gender and race, it is projected that 21 percent of whites, 25 percent of balcks, 23 percent of women, and 20 percent of men will be smokers by the year 2000. Public health efforts to encourage people to stop smoking helped cut the numbers of smokers between 1974 and 1985. However, since that time, nearly 1 million Americans started smoking cigarettes each year. Smoking prevention campaigns should focus on young people, especially those less educated, in order to reduce the numbers of cigarette smokers.

Forecasts and trends, Health surveys

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