Trends in smoking among Arabs and Jews in Israel

Background: During the last few decades much effort has been put into lowering levels of smoking in the population. Objectives: To follow trends in smoking rates among Arab men and Jewish men and women during 2000-2008. Methods: Smoking rates in six random telephone surveys run by the Israel Center for Disease Control (ICDC) were analyzed, totaling in 32,044 respondents. The percent of respondents reporting being current smokers was calculated for each population group (Jews and Arabs) by age, gender and education. Results: Among Jewish men aged 21-64 smoking declined since 2000 by about 3.5%. In the 21-44 age group this decline was observed only among respondents with an academic education. Among Jewish women, this decline was also observed at ages 21-64, and in the 45-64 age group this decline was due only to a decline in smoking among those with an academic education. Among Arab men aged 21-64 an increase in smoking rates of about 6.5% was observed among both educated and less educated respondents. Conclusions: Smoking prevalence is declining in Israel only among Jews. The decline is not distributed equally in the different sub-population and is mostly seen in higher socio-economic groups. This differential decrease in smoking rates will, in the future, add to the inequalities in health between the lower and higher socioeconomic status groups and between Arabs and Jews. This calls for tailored interventions among the less educated and Arab men.