Kids Might Not Be As Stupid As You Think: DPH Says Youth Smoking in Decline

 

Here’s a release from the state Dept. of Public Health

Public Health Survey Finds Youth Smoking in Connecticut

Continues to Decline

Hartford

smoking among Connecticut’s middle and high school students continues to decline, and that

attitudes about smoking vary between smokers and non-smokers. The results are from a survey,

the Youth Tobacco Component (YTC), on tobacco use among young people in grades 6 though

12.

“This survey estimates that nearly 9,000 of Connecticut’s middle and high school students

smoked their first cigarette before age 11,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. J. Robert Galvin.

“Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Many of these kids

will become addicted before they are old enough to understand the risks of smoking. This

survey provides valuable data for evaluating youth tobacco prevention efforts and cessation

programs within our state.”

In the 2009 survey, 20.8% of high school students reported they currently use tobacco. This is

down from 22.6% when the previous survey was taken in 2007. The survey also shows that the

belief that smoking has social benefits such as fitting in or looking cool, is higher among

students who smoke than those who had never smoked.

The YTC is part of a larger study, the Connecticut School Health Survey (CSHS), conducted by

the DPH in cooperation with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and

the Connecticut State Department of Education. The survey, conducted in the spring of 2009,

assessed students’ attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to tobacco use. Anonymous

responses from a representative sample of 4,616 students in grades 6-12 were collected and

analyzed for the report.

To view the report, please visit

– The Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced that the rate of cigarettehttp://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/hems/tobacco/pdf/2009_ytc_report_fnl.pdf

.The Connecticut Department of Public Health is the state’s leader in public health policy and

advocacy with a mission to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of our state.

To contact the department, please visit its website at

www.ct.gov/dph or call (860) 509-7270.