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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Jane R. Bratz, BSS, Bureau of Chronic Diseases and Injury Prevention, Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control, Pennsylvania Department of Health, PO Box 90, Room 1006, Harrisburg, PA 17108-0090, 717/783-6600, JBratz@state.pa.us
Tobacco use among minority populations in Pennsylvania describes the differences in cigarette, cigar, pipe, bidi, and smokeless tobacco use among racial/ethnic groups in public middle schools (grades six through eight) and public high schools (grades nine through twelve). The self-reported information was collected in the Pennsylvania Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) in the spring of 2001. 19,591 students in grades six through twelve in public middle and high schools participated in the YTS. The survey findings reflect usable responses from 16,834 of these students. According to the 2001 Pennsylvania YTS, 24.3 percent of Hispanic public high school students and 13.0 percent of African American public high school students currently smoke cigarettes; 12.0 percent of Hispanic public high school students and 8.0 percent of African American public high school students currently smoke cigars. Student participation in the YTS should strengthen the efforts of statewide and community-based tobacco prevention and cessation initiatives toward reducing the percent of youth who become regular smokers every day. Tobacco prevention, intervention, reduction, and cessation programs and efforts need to be tailored to racial/ethnic minority populations, such as Hispanics and African Americans. Findings from the YTS can be used to develop such programs and efforts, as well as information and instructions, that are culturally and linguistically specific and appropriate, target the appropriate racial/ethnic population, and tailor activities to tobacco use patterns of minority populations so that the appropriate message can be used to maximize its effectiveness. Prevention, intervention, reduction and cessation program implications will be presented.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Tobacco, Tobacco Control
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.