Roughly one in five U.S. adults smoked in 2008, about the same as in 2007, according to a
report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the national smoking rate has declined by 3.5 percentage points since 1998, significant year-to-year decreases have been sporadic, the agency said. Smoking rates also vary substantially by race/ethnicity and education. About half of all smokers have a high school or lower education. "Evidence-based programs known to be effective at reducing smoking should be intensified among groups with lower education, and health care providers should take education level into account when communicating about smoking hazards and cessation to these patients," the report states. Smoking rates by state in 2008 ranged from 9.2% in Utah to 26.6% in West Virginia, according to a related
study. The U.S. Virgin Islands had the lowest smoking rate at 6.5%.
