KDHE Home - News 1999 - News Release
Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary
For Immediate Release
Contact: Julia Francisco, 785-296-1233; Mike Heideman, 785-296-1529
Tobacco Use Prevalent Among Kansas Middle School Students
A new study indicates that the percentage of middle school kids who use tobacco in Kansas is almost as high as the adult rate. While the adult usage of cigarettes in Kansas has reached an all time low of 22.7 percent, more than 20 percent of Kansas middle school students (students between the age of 11 and 13) are using tobacco products on a regular basis. The cigarette smoking rate among middle school students almost doubles between the 6th and the 8th grades; use of smokeless tobacco increases more than four times. Of students who smoke currently, four out of ten say they want to stop.
These observations and others are included in a report on middle school tobacco use released by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The 1999 Kansas Youth Tobacco Use Report presents baseline data collected through a statewide survey of middle school participants. More than 1,100 middle school students from grades 6, 7, and 8 completed the survey in May 1999.
"The data clearly show the need for successful prevention programs at the middle school level and earlier," said Clyde Graeber, Secretary of KDHE. "Information in the report shows that critical time for beginning tobacco use is between the ages of 11 and 13, or even earlier."
The survey was coordinated with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kansas State Department of Education, and Southeast Kansas Education Service Center -- Greenbush. CDC evaluates programs and serves as a clearing house for successful prevention and cessation programs. According to CDC, efforts in other states to finance comprehensive anti-tobacco programs have helped students resist the pressures to become addicted. A comprehensive tobacco-use prevention program involves multi-levels of a community, i.e. school, home, community partnerships with health care and law enforcement, as well as public and professional education.
"Data collected by the Kansas Youth Tobacco Survey is key to identifying where prevention efforts should be directed in order to make the greatest impact on the health of Kansans," Secretary Graeber said. "Surveys will be repeated in the year 2000 and expanded to include high school students. After May of 2000, the survey will be conducted every two years.
"Tobacco use among our youth has reached epidemic proportions. We must educate our youth about this addiction and identify the programs necessary to prevent future problems. Such efforts are cost effective in terms of lives and health costs saved," Graeber concluded.
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