HHS HealthBeat (December 26, 2011)

Smokers in training

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

One thing some students seem to learn in college is how to smoke. This learning can lead to personal biology lessons later in life from a cancer doctor or a heart surgeon. But a study indicates that, in college, many are not constant smokers – yet.

At the University of Missouri, researcher Nikole Cronk looked at smoking patterns reported by 207 fraternity and sorority members. She says they smoked more at party time:

“Smoking tended to be more frequent on the weekends – so, Fridays and Saturdays – and then drop off on Sundays, and steadily build up again to the weekend point.”  (9 seconds)

She says students can help each other by having smoke-free parties.

The study in the journal Substance Use and Misuse was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: December 27, 2011