SMOKING INITIATION BY ADOLESCENT GIRLS, 1944 THROUGH 1988 - AN ASSOCIATION WITH TARGETED ADVERTISING

Objective.-To identify trends in smoking initiation among persons aged 10 to 20 years that might reflect the impact of specific targeting of tobacco advertising to women. Design.-Data from the National Health I nterview Surveys on age of initiation of smoking (survey years 1970, 1 978, 1979, 1980, 1987, and 1988) were used to construct age-specific r ates of smoking initiation for males and females aged 10 to 20 years f rom 1944 through the middle 1980s. The raw rates were smoothed to allo w trends to be more easily identified. Participants.-Information from 102 626 respondents was used. Results.-In 18- to 20-year-old women, in itiation rates peaked in the early 1960s and steadily declined thereaf ter. In girls younger than 18 years, smoking initiation increased abru ptly around 1967, when tobacco advertising aimed at selling specific b rands to women was introduced. This increase was particularly marked i n those females who never attended college (1.7-fold higher). Initiati on rates for females younger than 18 years peaked around 1973, at abou t the same time sales of these brands peaked. After a steep postwar (1 944 to 1949) decline, initiation rates in 18- to 20-year-old men did n ot decrease until the middle to late 1960s. Initiation rates for boys younger than 16 years showed little change during the entire study per iod. Conclusions.-The tobacco advertising campaigns targeting women, w hich were launched in 1967, were associated with a major increase in s moking uptake that was specific to females younger than the legal age for purchasing cigarettes.