CDC: Use of Flavored Little Cigars, Cigarettes Up in U.S. Adolescents

Flavored product use increases with grade; more common among non-Hispanic whites

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- More than 40 percent of student cigar or cigarette smokers report using flavored little cigars or flavored cigarettes, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Brian A. King, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the nationally representative 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey involving U.S. students in grades six to 12 to estimate current flavored-little-cigar use and flavored-cigarette use.

The researchers found that the overall prevalence of flavored-cigarette use was 4.2 percent; flavored-little-cigar use was 3.3 percent; and combined use was 6.3 percent. About one-third of current cigar and cigarette smokers reported using flavored little cigars (35.9 percent) and flavored cigarettes (35.4 percent). A total of 42.4 percent of current cigar or cigarette smokers reported using flavored little cigars or flavored cigarettes. Among current smokers, flavored product use was increased among non-Hispanic whites versus blacks and Hispanics and among high school versus middle school students, and increased with grade. Among cigar smokers, flavored-little-cigar users had increased prevalence of no intention to quit (59.7 percent) versus nonusers (49.3 percent).

"More than two-fifths of U.S. middle and high school smokers report using flavored little cigars or flavored cigarettes, and disparities in the use of these products exist across subpopulations," the authors write. "Efforts are needed to reduce flavored tobacco product use among youth."

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