CDC/FDA report entitled “Frequency of Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students – United States, 2014”.

The October 2015 MMWR also published the CDC/FDA report entitled “Frequency of Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students – United States, 2014.” This report analyzed the NYTS data and found:

• Of high schoolers who were frequent tobacco users (more than 19 days of use during the prior 30 days): 42% used smokeless tobacco, 31.6% used cigarettes, 15.5% used e-cigarettes, 13.1% used cigars.
• For middle schoolers who used tobacco on all 30 days prior, 29.2% used smokeless tobacco, 20% used cigarettes, 13.2% used cigars, and 11.8% used e-cigarettes. Current use of 2+ tobacco products was common: 77.3% of cigar smokers, 76.9% of cigarette smokers, 63/45 of smokeless tobacco users, and 54.8% of e-cigarette users.
• The report noted that 4.6 million middle and high schoolers use tobacco products, of whom 2.2 million used at least two types of tobacco products.

The report concluded that preventing youth from beginning tobacco use in any form is important to prevention and control strategies, since most adults who smoke daily do so before age 26. Increased use of emerging tobacco products like e-cigarettes and hookahs, and being a user of multiple tobacco products is a public health concern.