NEW DATA SHOW CALIFORNIA MILITARY, KOREAN MEN AND LGBT POPULATIONS SMOKE MUCH MORE THAN OTHERS IN THE STATE

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) today released the results of five population-based studies showing significantly higher smoking rates for the active military stationed in California, Korean men and those identified as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT), compared to the general California adult population. This first-ever population-specific data are in contrast to the state’s overall smoking prevalence, which is at historic lows. The new data also show that Chinese and Asian Indian Californians smoke at considerably lower rates than the general population.

Key findings show smoking prevalence in the LGBT community was 30.4 percent – double the state average of 15.4 percent. Among active military stationed in California, Marines reported the highest smoking rate of 26.9 percent – 33 percent more than the Navy (20.2 percent) and 50 percent more than the Army (17.8 percent) and Air Force (17.5 percent). Although the Korean population had an overall smoking rate of 15.3 percent, Korean men smoked at 27.9 percent – 46 percent higher than California men overall. In contrast, the Chinese and Asian Indian smoking prevalence rates were much lower than the state average at 7.7 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

"California’s tobacco education programs have had great success in reducing the state’s overall smoking prevalence," said Sandra Shewry, Director of CDHS. "These studies show marked disparities among California’s communities and confirm that we must continue our efforts so all of our communities can avoid the disease and death caused by tobacco addiction."

The Governor’s budget this year includes a $3 million increase to support expanded tobacco control and smoking prevention activities. This includes $2.6 million in grants that will be made available to local community groups targeting special populations with high tobacco use rates.

"These studies are very enlightening and will help us to better target and focus our efforts," said Dr. Howard Backer, interim state public health officer for CDHS.

The five studies were conducted between 2003 and 2004 and are the first by CDHS to look individually at the LGBT, active military, Korean, Chinese and Asian Indian populations. They were also the first statewide tobacco studies conducted both in English as well as Asian languages, such as Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi and Punjabi.

The overall smoking prevalence in the LGBT community was 30.4 percent. The new data also show that LGBT women smoked almost triple (32.5 percent) that of general population women (11.9 percent). LGBT men smoked at 27.4 percent, significantly more than California men in general at 19.1 percent.

The highest smoking rates were among LGBT 18 to 24 year olds at 43.7 percent – 2.5 times the overall smoking rate of this age group in California at 16.6 percent. LGBT women 18 to 24 years old smoked at 47.0 percent, while men were close behind at 37.4 percent.

The new data show the overall smoking prevalence of the California active duty military was 21.6 percent. The study also found striking differences in smoking rates between various age groups in the active military stationed in California and the state’s general population. Active duty males ages 18 to 24 reported smoking at 33.3 percent, compared to the overall male California population at 21.0 percent. However, active duty females older than age 45 reported smoking at 3.6 percent – much lower than the comparable California female population at 11.2 percent.

Smoking rates for the active military were inversely related to rank, from the highest smoking rate of 29.5 percent at the junior enlisted level, 22.4 percent for senior enlisted, 15.7 for warrant officer, 6.6 percent for junior officer, to the lowest smoking rate of 2.0 percent at the senior officer level.

The overall smoking prevalence of Korean Californians was 15.3 percent. However, Korean men have a smoking prevalence of 27.9 percent, which is 46 percent higher than general population men in California (19.1 percent) and more than five times higher than Korean women (4.3 percent).

The survey also shows that more culturally assimilated Korean women are more likely to be smokers. Those who are most assimilated smoke at 11.7 percent, compared to the least assimilated at 2.6 percent. In addition, only 3.3 percent of first generation Korean women were current smokers, compared to 13.6 percent of second generation

or higher women. Similar to the other groups studied, smoking rates were high among Korean 18 to 24 year olds at 25.5 percent.

While the overall Chinese smoking rate in California is 7.7 percent, there is a significant difference between genders in this population, with men smoking at 14.4 percent – seven times more than women at 2.0 percent.

Acculturation also appears to affect smoking prevalence, with 19.8 percent of the least assimilated males smoking and the most assimilated males smoking at 8.8 percent. The reverse is true for women, with the least assimilated smoking at 1.3 percent and the most assimilated at 4.7 percent.

This study is the first in the country to identify tobacco use among Asian Indians. The data show that Asian Indians in California smoke overall at 5.5 percent. Both men and women have low smoking rates at 8.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Acculturation also appears to play a role. Asian Indian men and women born in westernized countries were almost four times more likely to report ever using conventional tobacco, such as cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco (38.9 percent compared to 9.6 percent among those not born in a westernized country).

These studies, funded by CDHS, are part of California’s ongoing commitment to reduce the toll of tobacco on all populations throughout the state. CDHS regularly conducts tobacco-use research for the general population in English and Spanish, which includes representative samples for African-American and Latino Californians. These five special studies were conducted to obtain tobacco use and attitudinal data for the California military, LGBT, Chinese, Korean and Asian Indian populations, for which there was previously little or no statewide data.

CDHS’ Tobacco Control Program will also conduct a summit on September 7-8 in Sacramento with research experts nationwide to discuss the findings and implications of these studies.

The Tobacco Control Program is more than 15 years old and remains the longest running and most comprehensive anti-tobacco program in the nation.

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