Increased Smoking Among Girls

◆ In spite of the clearly established hazards of cigarette smoking, more girls are doing it. Six years ago, 22 percent of girls 13 to 17 years old were smokers, with 10 percent smoking at least one pack a day. Now 27 percent of these age groups smoke, with 40 percent smoking at least one pack a day. While among women aged 18 to 34 the percentage of smokers increased only slightly (from 34 to 36 percent), the percentage of heavy smokers among them rose from 51 percent in 1969 to 61 percent in 1975. Dr. Benjamin Byrd, president of the American Cancer Society, said that the new findings constituted an “urgent public health crisis.”

Nor are women spared, as 62 percent of those who died suddenly from heart diseases were heavy smokers, their average age at death being 19 years less than among nonsmokers.