The
Surgeon General’s Key Concerns
The nation’s health status is generally reviewed by the nation’s health objectives. Nationally, every ten years a new set of objectives are established to allow groups, states and health professionals to gauge the frequency of behaviors against a national standard. In addition to the nation’s health objectives, the Surgeon General frequently reports on health issues that he feels are of major national concern.
Over the past 15 years, the Surgeon General has issued two major reports that have highlighted the importance of lifestyle in influencing quality and quantity of life. The first report centered on the issue of tobacco use and its impact on lifestyle. Clearly tobacco use reduces life expectancy. Addiction to tobacco is problematic and strong relationships exist between the strength of addiction to tobacco and younger initiation of use. For that reason, this section of the report highlights tobacco use as a major area of concern.
The second Surgeon General’s report focused on physical fitness. Better physical fitness has been shown to lengthen life and reduce the incidence of chronic disease. Positive benefits from physical fitness make it an important corner stone in the practice of a healthy lifestyle. The surgeon general’s report emphasized that fitness levels of Americans was poorer than fitness levels of previous generations. As with tobacco, there seems to be an age consideration in life-long physical fitness. When regular physical activity is incorporated into lifestyle at a younger age, there is a tendency for this to become a life-long practice. For these reasons, we have chosen to examine physical fitness issues in the initial part of this document.
TOBACCO USE
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2001 Alabama
Adolescent Survey State Report |
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TOBACCO USE |
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During the past MONTH, how many
cigarettes did you smoke? |
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Gender |
Responses |
2001 |
1998 |
1993 |
1990 |
1988 |
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Female |
Not
Even 1 Puff |
70.7% |
70.4% |
72.6% |
75.1% |
73.8% |
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1
to 4 Cigs |
12.2% |
10.9% |
9.7% |
9.6% |
9.8% |
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5
to 19 Cigs |
4.9% |
4.7% |
4.5% |
4.0% |
5.0% |
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1
to 5 Packs |
6.8% |
7.0% |
5.7% |
4.9% |
6.1% |
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More
Than 5 Packs (Heavy Smoker) |
5.3% |
7.1% |
7.5% |
6.3% |
5.3% |
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Male |
Not
Even 1 Puff |
59.5% |
58.8% |
64.9% |
66.6% |
72.3% |
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1
to 4 Cigs |
14.5% |
13.9% |
12.1% |
10.9% |
9.4% |
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5
to 19 Cigs |
9.0% |
8.2% |
6.4% |
6.1% |
6.3% |
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1
to 5 Packs |
8.2% |
6.9% |
6.9% |
5.4% |
5.5% |
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More
Than 5 Packs (Heavy Smoker) |
8.7% |
11.8% |
9.2% |
10.9% |
6.4% |
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A
review of the female smoking patterns shows very little change over the
ten-year period. Males however show
some indicators of increased use over the past two time periods. Rates of experimentation are up which are
indicated by fewer students reporting not even one puff. Of particular concern are students who
consume more than one pack per month.
If one combines the percentages for 1 to 5 packs and more than 5 packs
there are increases over the past two reporting periods. It is important to recognize that smokers
who start smoking before becoming 20 years of age are at increased risk of
becoming addicted. It is also
important to recognize that when students consume six cigarettes or more per
day that they are more likely to become addicted. |
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2001 Alabama
Adolescent Survey State Report |
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TOBACCO USE |
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During the past MONTH, how many times
did you use chewing tobacco or snuff? |
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Gender |
Responses |
2001 |
1998 |
1993 |
1990 |
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Female |
0
Times |
95.7% |
97.4% |
97.1% |
97.0% |
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1
to 2 Times |
1.8% |
1.7% |
1.3% |
1.4% |
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3
to 5 Times |
1.4% |
0.3% |
0.5% |
0.8% |
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6
to 10 Times |
0.9% |
0.2% |
0.1% |
0.4% |
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11
or More Times |
0.1% |
0.4% |
1.0% |
0.4% |
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Male |
0
Times |
72.9% |
78.9% |
76.3% |
73.8% |
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1
to 2 Times |
11.0% |
7.3% |
5.5% |
8.8% |
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3
to 5 Times |
4.0% |
4.3% |
4.5% |
2.7% |
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6
to 10 Times |
5.6% |
2.8% |
3.0% |
4.3% |
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11
or More Times |
6.4% |
6.4% |
10.5% |
10.1% |
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Snuff
and chewing tobacco use has seen some declines over the past. Reductions observed in 1998 have remained
consistent and further reductions have been minimal. These gains need to be maintained with
continued monitoring. |
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2001 Alabama
Adolescent Survey State Report |
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TOBACCO |
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At what grade level did you smoke your first cigarette? |
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Gender |
Responses |
2001 |
1998 |
1993 |
1990 |
1988 |
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Female |
Never |
44.4% |
44.9% |
49.3% |
48.2% |
47.6% |
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Grade
4 or Earlier |
8.4% |
6.5% |
8.3% |
10.4% |
8.7% |
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Grade
5 or 6 |
13.9% |
14.8% |
14.9% |
14.2% |
12.5% |
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Grade
7 or 8 |
23.7% |
21.5% |
17.6% |
20.2% |
19.8% |
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Grade
9 or 10 |
9.7% |
12.4% |
10.0% |
7.0% |
10.0% |
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Male |
Never |
37.4% |
37.3% |
43.8% |
41.5% |
41.4% |
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Grade
4 or Earlier |
13.1% |
10.4% |
15.0% |
17.3% |
14.1% |
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Grade
5 or 6 |
19.8% |
20.6% |
17.1% |
16.9% |
18.7% |
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Grade
7 or 8 |
23.4% |
22.8% |
16.1% |
18.7% |
18.2% |
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Grade
9 or 10 |
6.3% |
8.9% |
7.9% |
5.3% |
5.7% |
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This
item provides background information for the debut of smoking
experimentation. A general review
shows that approximately 10 percent of youngsters have experimented with
cigarettes before the fifth grade.
Experimentation seems to be generally consistent within a few
percentage points over the past decade.
This information implies that prevention programming should begin at
the latest by grade 5. Some
prevention programming in grade 4 seems appropriate. |
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2001 Alabama
Adolescent Survey State Report |
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TOBACCO USE |
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At what grade level did you try chewing
tobacco or snuff? |
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