The spring 2000 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) provides a national representative sample of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and Whites in both middle and high school. This survey provides the first nationally representative survey of tobacco use among Asian Americans. We present the prevalence of current smoking (1+ days in the past month) by grade and race to illustrate trends in smoking. We also estimate the prevalence of youth who fall into four stages of smoking for each race/ethnic group: 1) susceptibility (or openness to smoking), 2) experimentation, 3) regular but non-daily smoking, and 4) established smoking. These findings illustrate that the prevalence of smoking among Asians increases from the lowest among all races/ethnicities in grade 6 to the highest by the 12th grade. We also find substantial differences in the progression of smoking by race/ethnicity, suggesting that tobacco prevention efforts should be staged accordingly by race/ethnicity to be most effective.
Learning Objectives: Understand how the progression of smoking varies dramatically by race/ethnicity and learn when prevention strategies may be most effectively implemented for various racial/ethnic groups.
Keywords: Smoking, Minority Health
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