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Does the US Navy attract young women who smoke?
K B Weaver1, S I Woodruff, T L Conway
1Center for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, CA 92123, USA.
Objective:
To assess whether the United States Navy is disproportionately attracting and recruiting female smokers from the civilian sector.
Methods:
Standardised comparisons of cigarette use among Navy women recruits and civilian women were conducted with data from a 1996-97 Department of Defense study and the 1994 National Health Interview Survey.
Results:
Young Navy women recruits (18-22 years) had significantly higher rates of current and heavy smoking than their civilian counterparts after adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics. Smoking rates among older recruits and civilian women (23-30 years) were not significantly different.
Conclusions:
It seems that the Navy attracts young civilian women who already smoke, many of whom smoke heavily.