Tobacco use among adults--United States, 2005

Four of the Healthy People 2010 objectives regarding tobacco use are to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking to 12.0%, cigar smoking to 1.2%, use of smokeless tobacco to 0.4%, and to increase cessation attempts among adult smokers to 75.0%. To assess progress toward achieving these four objectives, CDC analyzed self-reported data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This report summarizes the results of these analyses, which indicated lagging progress on all four objectives. In 2005, approximately 20.9% of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers, the same percentage as in 2004, suggesting that the 8-year decline in smoking prevalence among adults in the United States might be stalling. In addition, the findings indicated that, in 2005, an estimated 2.2% of U.S. adults were current cigar smokers, 2.3% used smokeless tobacco, and 42.5% of current cigarette smokers had stopped smoking for at least 1 day in the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. To meet the Healthy People objectives for 2010, full implementation of effective, comprehensive tobacco-control programs that address both initiation and cessation of tobacco use is needed in all states and U.S. territories.