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.