Student smoking rate shows sharp decrease
POSTED: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Fewer students are lighting up, according to a state survey.
A study by the state Departments of Health and Education showed that 4.2 percent of middle school students surveyed last year smoke, compared with 12.9 percent in 2000, a drop of more than two-thirds.
Among high school students, 9.7 percent of those surveyed in 2007 smoke, compared with 24.5 percent in 2000.
The 2007 survey also showed a continual drop since 2000 in the percentage of middle and high school students who experiment with smoking.
The youth tobacco survey is conducted among public school students in grades six to 12. A control group of 1,172 students from 27 schools participated in the middle school survey, and 1,211 students from 27 schools participated in the high school survey.
While the rate of smokers declined among youth, health officials remain concerned that they are able to get cigarettes from the Internet. The survey showed 7 percent of middle school students reported obtaining cigarettes from the Internet, compared with 2.7 percent of middle school students in 2000.
Among high schoolers, 2.7 percent reported obtaining cigarettes from the Internet, compared with 0.7 percent of high school students in 2000.
From 2005 to 2007, the smokeless tobacco usage rate increased slightly to 2.4 percent from 1.8 percent among middle school students, according to Dr. Morgan Barrett, deputy director of health resources, who oversees the tobacco prevention and education project. The rate increased to 3.7 percent from 2.1 percent among high school students, Barrett said.
“;It can't be overstated that smoking and tobacco continue to be the leading cause of preventable illness, not only in Hawaii, but in the nation and increasingly throughout the world,”; said Barrett.
Youth today are better educated about the harmful effects of smoking, anti-tobacco advocates say.
“;The social norm has shifted,”; said Brandon Antonius, 17, of Kihei Charter High School in Maui, during at a news conference yesterday at the state Capitol.
Antonius is a member of REAL, a statewide youth organization that works to counter the tobacco industry's multimillion-dollar annual marketing effort in Hawaii.
STUDENTS AND SMOKING
The following are results of the 2007 biannual Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the Department of Health and the Department of Education among public middle and high school students:
| Middle school students: | 2000 | 2007 |
| » Experimented with cigarettes | 38.4% | 14.7% |
| » Current smokers | 12.9% | 4.2% |
| » Exposed to secondhand smoke | 53.7% | 35.5% |
| High school students: | 2000 | 2007 |
| » Experimented with cigarettes | 63.3% | 38.3% |
| » Current smokers | 24.5% | 9.7% |
| » Exposed to secondhand smoke | 68% | 45.4% |
