Smoking Down Among Students At UF, Campus Survey Finds

November 28, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Cigarette use among University of Florida students has declined during the last two years, with freshman showing the highest drop, according to a campus survey.

Overall, the rate of cigarette use fell from 28 percent in 1999 to 20 percent in 2001, a decline of 8 percent among UF students. Results of the survey show the drop is highest among freshmen, with 16.2 percent reporting using cigarettes on at least one day within 30 days prior to the survey this year, compared with 35.4 percent in 1999.

“We are encouraged by the apparent decline in the rate of cigarette smoking on campus,” said Phillip Barkley, director of UF’s Student Health Care Center. “Given the enormous negative impact that smoking has on the health of individuals, any decrease in the incidence of smoking can only be viewed as positive.”

Of 659 students who responded to a randomly distributed survey earlier this year, 19.9 percent of undergraduates reported smoking cigarettes on one or more days within the past 30 days prior to the survey, compared with 28.4 percent who were asked the same question in 1999, the study found.

One potential reason for the decline is that many younger students participated while in high school in tobacco education programs, such as Students Working Against Tobacco and the National TRUTH campaign, said Joanne Auth, coordinator of education and training programs at UF’s student health center.

“This is a good hunch because the most dramatic changes from 1999 to 2001 were among first- and second-year students,” Auth said.

Tavis Glassman, coordinator of UF’s Campus Alcohol and Drug Resource Center, said the average smoking rate among college students nationwide is 28 percent, so UF’s rate is encouraging.

The Student Tobacco Reform Initiative: Knowledge for Eternity, or STRIKE, implemented at UF in spring 2001 also may have contributed to the decline, he said.

“Prevention efforts do make a difference,” Glassman said. “Collaboration is the key to long- term success.”