Heres some good news. White males are smoking less than they were ten years ago.
Heres some bad news. Women and African Americans have a long way to go. That is the conclusion of an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The article summarized surveys of our national health habits. The surveys provided some surprises.
Between 1994 and 2004, men quit smoking at a much higher rate than women. The number of young men who started smoking actually declined.
On the other hand, young women continued to light up for the first time in record numbers. More women began smoking last year than men.
Blacks also continued to smoke too much. A much higher percentage of the black population smokes than the white population.
While blacks have quit smoking at the same rate as whites, too many blacks still smoke.
Conclusions: Americans have gotten the quit-smoking message. But blacks and women, especially young women, should listen just a bit better.
