African-American Teen Smoking Has Increased 56 percent!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking among African-American teens increased 56 percent in the 1990s.

"This increase is particularly striking, since African-American youths had the greatest decline of tobacco use among minorities during the 1970s and 1980s, but the steepest increase in use in the 1990s," said report.

According to the CDC, if current patterns continue, an estimated 1.6 million African Americans who are now under the age of 18 will become regular smokers. About 500,000 of those smokers will die of a smoking-related disease. In reference to the 1998 Surgeon General’s report which was the first to focus on tobacco use among ethnic and racial minorities, Surgeon General Dr. Satcher said, "Unless the trends are reversed, these increases in tobacco use are a time-bomb for the health of our minority populations."

For more information a detailed summary of the Surgeon General’s report, Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups, and other related information can be found on CDC’s Web site (http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco).