| Increases in teen smoking point to future health problems for many American children. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showed another significant increase in teen smoking in 1996. Smoking among teens is now at its highest level in 16 years. |  |
- each day more than 3,000 young people begin to smoke
- female adolescents are one of the fastest growing segments of the smoking population
- between 1991-1995 smoking among 8th graders increased 34 percent
- nearly all adult smokers began smoking as children. The average smoker begins at 13 and becomes a daily smoker at 14-1/2
- more than 5 million Americans now under the age of 18 will die prematurely from smoking
- by the time young people become regular smokers, 70 percent regret their decision to smoke
Percentage of Ohio high school students who use tobacco by sex and grades (9-12) for 1993 and 1995 |
||||||
| 1993 | 1995 | 1993 | 1995 | 1993 | 1995 | |
| All Grades | All Grades | All females | All females | All males | All males | |
| Lifetime use: | 68.6 | 70.5 | 66 | 68.2 | 71 | 72.5 |
| Currently smoke: | 29.7 | 38.5 | 29 | 37.3 | 30.4 | 39.6 |
The CDC estimates that one million kids started to smoke in 1996. One-third of them will die from their addiction. Keeping kids away from cigarettes is the single most effective way to fight the teen smoking epidemic and the nation's leading preventable cause of death.