Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults —United States 2011

November 9, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. 44

MMWR Introduction

The 2011 National Health Interview Survey was administered by in-person interview and included 33,014 adults aged ≥ 18 years from among the non-institutionalized, U.S. civilian population. In 2011 an estimated 19.0% (43.8 million) of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers. During 2005—2011, the proportion of U.S. adults who were current smokers declined significantly from 20.9% to 19.0%. However, no significant change occurred between 2010 (19.3%) and 2011 (19.0%).

This report indicates that although slight overall declines in smoking prevalence have occurred since 2005, the prevalence remains higher than the Healthy People 2020 target of ≤ 12% for all U.S. adults. This underscores the need for fuller implementation of evidence-based interventions that are proven to reduce smoking prevalence. These include increasing the price of tobacco products, implementing comprehensive smoke-free policies, running hard-hitting media campaigns and enforcing restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.