Status: Getting worse
Most Recent Data:
23.0
percent
(2019)
Target:
11.3
percent
Desired Direction:
Decrease desired
Baseline:
18.3 percent of students in grades 6 through 12 used cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, pipe tobacco, and/or bidis in the past 30 days in 2018
Commercial tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Youth use of tobacco products in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe. Most people who use tobacco products start during adolescence, and those who start at younger ages are more likely to develop nicotine dependence and have trouble quitting. National, state, and local program activities — like programs and policies that encourage tobacco-free places and lifestyles — can help prevent or reduce the use of all forms of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, among adolescents.
In 2018, 18.3 percent of students in grades 6 through 12 used cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, pipe tobacco, and/or bidis in the past 30 days.
Data Source: National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), CDC/NCCDPHP
Disparities in current tobacco use rates among adolescents by race and ethnicity: Highest/lowest rate ‡
Disparities in current tobacco use rates among adolescents by race and ethnicity: All groups ‡
In 2018, non-Hispanic Asian adolescents had the lowest group rate of current tobacco use (10.3 percent).
- The rate of current tobacco use among non-Hispanic Black or African American adolescents (12.5 percent) was 20.6 percent higher than the lowest group rate. The ratio between the rates was not statistically significant.
- The rate of current tobacco use among Hispanic or Latino adolescents (16.2 percent) was 56.7 percent higher than the lowest group rate.
- The rate of current tobacco use among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander adolescents (18.2 percent) was 76.2 percent higher than the lowest group rate.
- The rate of current tobacco use among non-Hispanic White adolescents (21.5 percent) was more than twice the lowest group rate.
- The rate of current tobacco use among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adolescents (23.3 percent) was more than twice the lowest group rate.
