Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs)

Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2002

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Tobacco use among high school students declined significantly from 34.5 percent in 2000 to 28.4 percent in 2002.
Cigarette smoking, the most common use of tobacco among high school students, declined significantly from 28 percent in 2000 to 22.9 percent in 2002. There were no differences by gender for cigarette smoking among high school students in 2002.
In 2002, cigarette use by race/ethnic groups was higher among white high school students (25.5 percent) followed by Hispanic (20.5 percent) and African American (14.3 percent) students.
Cigars were the second most prevalent (11.6 percent) type of tobacco used among high school students in 2002. Nearly one of 6 male students (16.9 percent) had used cigars compared to about 1 of 16 female students (6.2 percent) in the past month.
The use of bidis (2.6 percent), kreteks (2.7 percent), and pipes (3.2 percent) among high school students was each about 3 percent, compared to 6.1 percent for smokeless tobacco use in 2002.
Male (10.8 percent) high school students were significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco products than female (1.4 percent) high school students.

From 2000 to 2002, among middle school students, there was no significant decline in use of tobacco products overall (13.3 percent) or for any individual tobacco product.
Males were more likely than females to use all of the tobacco products, except for cigarettes (10.2 percent and 10 percent respectively).
Cigarettes (10.1 percent) were the most commonly used type of tobacco among middle school students in 2002.
From 2000 to 2002, there were no significant declines in smoking rates for middle school students in all racial/ethnic groups.
The smoking rate among middle school students by race/ethnic groups was relatively equal, with about one of ten, white (10.4 percent), African American (9.4 percent), and Hispanic (9.1 percent), middle school students reporting smoking cigarettes in the past month.
Cigars were the second most prevalent (6 percent) type of tobacco used among middle school students in 2002. Male students (7.9 percent) were more likely to use cigars in the past month, as compared to females (4.1 percent).

Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007