Senior Citizens Lead Nation in at Least One
Important Health Statistic Not Smoking
Seniors much less likely to smoke than younger
people; smoking decline stalled; half of children exposed to secondhand
smoke
Sept. 13, 2010 Too often the health statistics
have senior citizens leading all age groups with the worst statistics,
but that is not so in the latest report by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Seniors U.S. citizens age 65 and older are
much less likely to be cigarette smokers than are younger people.
According to the report, the number of adult
smokers dropped between 2000 and 2005, but smoking has remained at about
20-21 percent since 2005. Only about 9.5 percent of senior citizens,
however, are still smokers.
A second report released by the CDC finds 4 in 10
nonsmokers were exposed to cigarette smoke during 2007-2008.
Among children between the ages of 3 and 11 years
old, 54 percent were exposed to secondhand smoke. Nearly all (98
percent) children who live with a smoker are exposed and have
measureable levels of toxic chemicals from cigarette smoke.
In 2009, more men (nearly 24 percent) than women
(about 18 percent) smoked and about 31 percent of those living below
poverty level smoked. Less than 6 percent of adults with a graduate
degree smoke compared to more than 25 percent of adults with no high
school diploma.
Further, nearly 90 million non-smoking Americans
are exposed to secondhand smoke and have measurable levels of toxic
chemicals from cigarette smoke. Black non-smokers are one-third more
likely than white smokers, and twice as likely as Mexican-American
smokers, to have measurable exposure to tobacco.
"But progress is possible. Strong state laws that
protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, higher cigarette prices,
aggressive ad campaigns that show the human impact of smoking and
well-funded tobacco control programs decrease the number of adult
smokers and save lives."
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed
malignancy and the third leading cause of death from cancer in men in
Western countries - Sept. 13, 2010
In 2009, smoking among adults was lowest in Utah,
followed by California. California has had a long-running comprehensive
tobacco control program. Adult smoking in California declined by about
40 percent during 19982006, and as a result lung cancer in California
has been declining four times faster than in the rest of the nation.
Maine, New York, and Washington have seen 4560 percent reductions in
youth smoking with sustained statewide efforts.
If each state supported comprehensive tobacco
control programs for 5 years with CDC recommended levels of funding, an
estimated 5 million fewer persons in the country would smoke, resulting
in prevention of premature tobacco-related deaths.
In addition, the
Communities Putting Prevention to Work program provides guidance and
funding for states and communities to change policies to prevent tobacco
use and protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke. The latter is
especially important given that more than half of young children are
exposed to secondhand smoke. Children whose parents smoke are twice as
likely to smoke themselves, but children who grow up in communities with
comprehensive smoke-free laws are much less likely to become smokers.
Smoking causes cancers of the lung, mouth, stomach,
pancreas, kidney, colon, cervix, bladder and leukemia, as well as heart
attacks, stroke, blindness, pneumonia, emphysema and other lung
diseases, and many other health problems. Exposure to secondhand smoke
causes sudden infant death syndrome and low birth weight, acute
respiratory infections, middle ear disease, exacerbated asthma,
respiratory symptoms, and decreased lung function in children. It also
causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.
CDC Vital Signs is a new report that will appear on the first
Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Vital Signs is
designed to provide the latest data and information on key health
indicators cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, alcohol use,
access to health care, HIV/AIDS, motor vehicle passenger safety, health
care-association infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy,
infant mortality, asthma and food safety.
Percentage of Adult Smokers by Group
Percentage of persons aged ≥18 years who were current
cigarette smokers,* by selected characteristics --- National
Health Interview Survey, United States, 2009
Total
(27,603)
Men
(12,193)
Women
(15,410)
Characteristic
%
%
%
Age group
(years)
18--24
21.8
28.0
15.6
25--44
24.0
26.5
21.5
45--64
21.9
24.5
19.5
≥65
9.5
9.5
9.5
Race/Ethnicity§
White, non-Hispanic
22.1
24.5
19.8
Black, non-Hispanic
21.3
23.9
19.2
Hispanic
14.5
19.0
9.8
American Indian/Alaska Native
23.2
29.7
---Ά
Asian, non-Hispanic**
12.0
16.9
7.5
Multiple race, non-Hispanic
29.5
33.7
24.8
Education
0--12 yrs (no diploma)
26.4
30.5
22.2
≤8 yrs
17.1
22.2
11.9
9--11 yrs
33.6
36.5
30.5
12 yrs (no diploma)
28.5
34.1
23.3
GED§§
49.1
53.2
44.7
High school graduate
25.1
29.0
21.5
Some college (no degree)
23.3
26.1
21.0
Associate degree
19.7
20.6
19.1
Undergraduate degree
11.1
12.4
9.9
Graduate degree
5.6
4.9
6.3
Poverty
statusΆΆ
At or above poverty level
19.4
22.2
16.7
Below poverty level
31.1
34.2
28.7
Unspecified
17.3
22.3
13.2
Region***
Northeast
20.0
23.4
16.9
New England
19.4
21.5
17.5
Mid-Atlantic
20.2
24.1
16.7
Midwest
23.1
25.7
20.8
East North Central
23.8
26.7
21.1
West North Central
21.8
23.6
20.1
South
21.8
24.5
19.3
South Atlantic
20.1
22.3
18.0
East South Central
25.8
30.1
22.3
West South Central
22.5
25.5
19.8
West
16.4
19.5
13.3
Mountain
18.8
21.7
16.0
Pacific
15.3
18.6
12.1
Total
20.6
23.5
17.9
* Persons who reported smoking at least 100 cigarettes
during their lifetimes and who, at the time of interview,
reported smoking every day or some days. Excludes 128
respondents whose smoking status was unknown.
- 95% confidence interval.
§ Excludes 53 respondents of unknown race.
Ά Data not reported because of unstable percentages;
relative standard error ≥30%.
** Does not include Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific
Islanders.
Among persons aged ≥25 years. Excludes 137 persons whose
educational level was unknown.
§§ General Educational Development certificate.
ΆΆ Family income is reported by the family respondent who
might or might not be the same as the sample adult
respondent from whom smoking information is collected; 2009
estimates are based on reported family income and 2008
poverty thresholds published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
*** New England: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
Mid-Atlantic: New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
East North Central: Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois,
Indiana, and Ohio. West North Central: Missouri,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and
Iowa. South Atlantic: Delaware, Maryland, District of
Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. East South Central:
Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. West South
Central: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
Mountain: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah,
Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Pacific: Alaska,
Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii.
Sept. 13, 2010 Too often the health statistics
have senior citizens leading all age groups with the worst statistics,
but that is not so in the latest report by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Seniors U.S. citizens age 65 and older are
much less likely to be cigarette smokers than are younger people.
