 |
 |
Media Home | Contact Us
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Media Home | Contact Us |
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||
| PRESS CONTACT: Division of Media Relations CDC, Office of Communication (404) 639鈥?286 |
Summary not available.
Tobacco use - particularly cigarette smoking - is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for more
than 440,000 deaths each year.
| PRESS CONTACT: Office on Smoking and Health CDC, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion (770) 488鈥?493 |
One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to 12%. To examine the prevalence of smoking for the states, the District of Columbia, and territories, CDC analyzed data from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis and indicates that in 2001, adult current smoking prevalence ranged from 13.3%-30.9%, (median 23.4%) for the states and the District of Columbia. Prevalence of current smoking for three territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) ranged from 9.8% to 31.4%. Between 1996 and 2001, the prevalence of current smoking was relatively stable in 41 states and the District of Columbia while the proportion of current smokers who were some day smokers increased significantly in 31 of those states and the District of Columbia.
Consumers should be aware that, if they are eating in an establishment that allows smoking, they may not be protected from second hand
smoke.
| PRESS CONTACT: Regina Tan, DVM, MS CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (770) 488-4648 |
Second hand smoke is a major cause of heart disease and lung cancer in healthy nonsmokers. To reduce public exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), CDC recommends smoking bans and restrictions in public places. Restaurants in Georgia鈥檚 Southeast Health District were inspected for these measures. While the majority (70%) of restaurants were smoke-free, many restaurants that did permit smoking provided insufficient barriers to second hand smoke. Restaurant patrons and employees should be aware that in establishments that allow smoking, they may not be protected from second hand smoke. Public health officials in the Southeast Health District are concerned about the issue and plan to educate restaurant owners about reducing patrons' and employees' exposure to ETS. Health officials will continue to monitor the situation and encourage restaurant owners to take steps to address this issue.
Alcohol point-of-purchase (POP) marketing is pervasive in stores that are frequented by teens and young adults.
| PRESS CONTACT: Frank Chaloupka, PhD University of Illinois-Chicago (630) 660-8350 |
In addition, some POP practices such as selling iced single beers near checkout lines, could promote drinking and driving. Responsible alcohol POP strategies should be developed. Currently, there are no standards for alcohol POP in the U.S., even though such practices increase total alcohol consumption. Public health entities and policy makers should collaborate with liquor control boards to develop responsible POP alcohol marketing practices.
| PRESS CONTACT: Division of Media Relations CDC, Office of Communication (404) 639-3286 |
Summary not available.
|
|
CDC Home | Search | Health Topics A-Z This page last reviewed April 11, 2003 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
