Teen Smoking Rates At or Near Record Lows

The news is very good -- American teens are smoking at rates we haven't seen since the early 90's, according to the results of this year's Monitoring the Future survey.

In an effort to understand smoking trends for American youth, the Monitoring the Future study, which began in 1991 at the University of Michigan, surveys a cross-section of secondary school students across the nation about tobacco use and their attitudes about smoking annually. The Monitoring the Future Study is funded through research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Highlights of the 2008 survey of 8th, 10th and 12th graders include:

• Percentage of students who smoked in the 30 days prior to the survey: 8th grade -- 7 percent, 10th grade -- 12 percent, 12th grade -- 20 percent. These percentages reflect a substantial drop in smoking rates since the mid 90's. 8th grade smoking is down by two-thirds, 10th grade, more than half, and 12th grade smoking rates are down by nearly half.

• Smoking rates for all three grades together has dropped from 13.6 percent in 2007 to 12.6 in 2008.

• The number of 8th graders who have tried smoking is down from 49 percent in 1996 to 21 percent in 2008.

• The great majority of teens today say that they "prefer to date people who don't smoke": 83 percent, 80 percent, and 75 percent in grades 8, 10, and 12, and nearly two-thirds of them think that "becoming a smoker reflects poor judgment."

"I can't begin to tell you what a dramatic difference this is going to make in the health and longevity of this generation," said Lloyd Johnston, the study's principal investigator. "The fact that teen smoking is still declining is particularly encouraging, because a couple of years ago it looked like the long decline in youth smoking might be coming to an end."

• More good news on teen smoking: Rates at or near record lows -- Monitoring the Future Survey Press Release

Related:

• Smoking Facts for Teens and Parents

• A Talk With Your Kids About Smoking - DVD Review

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