The US’ young adult cigarette smoking rate is at an all-time low of about 10 percent, a more than 20 percent drop in a year, according to a Truth Initiative statement.
Young adult smokers are defined as people 18-24 years of age who report having smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and who now smoke every day or some days.
In 2017, 10.4 percent (more than three million) of young adults smoked cigarettes, according to the latest data on cigarette use from the National Health Interview Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That marks a 21 percent decline since 2016, when the young-adult smoking rate was 13.1 percent, and a 45 percent decrease since 2011, when 18.9 percent of young adults smoked.
The statement said too that the ‘youth’ smoking rate had dropped also to an historic low. Now, 5.4 percent (about 1.3 million) of US teens smoked, down from 5.9 percent in 2016.
‘These declines underscore the importance of proven public health strategies, including well-funded and well-executed public education campaigns, like truth®,’ the statement said.
‘Research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that truth prevented more than 300,000 US ‘youth’ and young adults from becoming smokers in just one year from 2015-16.
‘Youth and young adults are most at risk of starting to smoke cigarettes. Nearly all – 99 percent – of smokers start smoking by age 26.’
Young forsaking cigarettes
