Tobacco use among middle and high school students--New Hampshire, 1995-2001.
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Because 80% of adult smokers began smoking as minors, efforts to prevent smoking initiation have focused on adolescents. To examine trends in smoking prevalence among adolescents, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services analyzed data from the New Hampshire Youth Risk Behavior Survey (NHYRBS) and the New Hampshire Youth Tobacco Survey (NHYTS) during 1995-2001. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicate that smoking prevalence in New Hampshire has declined among both middle and high school students. When fully operational, New Hampshire's comprehensive tobacco-prevention and -control program should lead to further reductions in smoking among adolescents and begin to decrease smoking among adults.
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009513:New Hampshire / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000639:trends; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*