SD 3.2

SMOKELESS TOBACCO USE AMONG YOUTH

The use of smokeless tobacco — snuff and chewing tobacco — is associated with a substantially higher risk
of developing oral cancer.²¹ In 1995, eleven percent of students in grades 9-12 participating in a national in-school survey reported using smokeless tobacco in the last 30 days. The prevalence of smokeless tobacco use has remained fairly constant in recent years (see Table SD 3.2).

Differences by Gender. Unlike cigarette smoking, male students are significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco than are female students, with 20 percent of males and only 2 percent of females reporting smokeless tobacco use in 1995.

Differences by Race.²² The use of smokeless tobacco is most prevalent among white, non-Hispanic male youth, with one-quarter reporting having used smokeless tobacco one or more times in the 30 days preceding the survey in 1995, compared to 6 percent of Hispanic male youth and 4 percent of black male youth (see Figure SD 3.2).
 
 

Figure SD 3.2   Smokeless Tobacco: Percentage of Youth in Grades 9-12 Who Report Having Used Smokeless Tobacco During the Previous Thirty Days, by Gender and Race/Ethnicity: 1995

Source: “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - United States, 1995.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 45, No. SS-4, 1996
 
 

Table SD 3.2   Smokeless Tobacco: Percentage of Youth in Grades 9-12 Who Report Having Used Smokeless Tobacco During the Previous Thirty Days: 1991, 1993, and 1995
			1991						1993					1995
			—————————						———————————					—————————
			Total		Male	Female			Total	Male		Female		Total	Male	Female
			———		——	———			———	——		———		———	——	———
Total			11		19	1			12	20		2		11	20	2
Race/Ethnicity
	White,  Non-Hispanic		13		24	1			15	26		2		15	25	3
	Black,  Non-Hispanic		2		4	1			3	5		1		2	4	1
	Hispanic		6		11	1			5	8		2		4	6	3
Source: Data for 1991 from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Public Health Service, 1994. Data for 1993 from "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance-United States 1993," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 44, No. SS-1, 1995. Data for 1995 from "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance -- United States, 1995." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 45, No. SS-4, 1996.

²² Estimates for whites and blacks exclude Hispanics of those races.
 

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