DOES THE US NAVY ATTRACT YOUNG-WOMEN WHO SMOKE

Objective-To assess whether the United States Navy is disproportionate ly attracting and recruiting female smokers from the civilian sector. Methods-Standardised comparisons of cigarette use among Navy women rec ruits and civilian women were conducted with data from a 1996-97 Depar tment of Defense study and the 1994 National Health Interview Survey. Results-Young Navy women recruits (18-22 years) had significantly high er rates of current, and heavy smoking than their civilian counterpart s after adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics. Smoking rates among older recruits and civilian women (23-30 years) w ere nor significantly different.Conclusions-It seems that the Navy att racts young civilian women who already smoke, many of whom smoke heavi ly.