Table 1.

Cigarette Smoking Status of Minnesota Adolescents, by Characteristics, 1998–1999

Characteristic	na	Frequency of Smoking Cigarettes			P Value
		Nonsmokers, %	Current Smokersb, %	Daily Smokers, %
Total	4413	82.9	6.8	10.3	Does not apply
Sex
Male	2213	83.5	6.6	9.9	.46
Female	2199	82.2	7.0	10.8
Grade level
Middle school	1477	92.6	4.7	2.7	<.001
High school	2887	77.9	7.9	14.2
Racec
African American	735	90.9	4.6	4.5	<.001
Asian American	843	88.1	6.2	5.7
Hispanic	243	80.7	8.2	11.1
Native American	156	69.2	6.4	24.4
White	2209	79.6	7.5	12.9
Mixed or other	168	80.3	7.8	11.9
SESd
Low	738	83.9	6.6	9.5	<.001
Low-middle	803	78.5	6.3	15.2
Middle	1142	82.4	6.4	11.2
Upper-middle	1019	84.1	8.3	7.6
High	609	84.9	5.9	9.2
Weight Status
Not overweight	2753	83.0	6.4	10.6	0.21
Overweight	697	82.1	8.3	9.6
Very overweight	581	83.2	7.9	8.9

SES indicates socioeconomic status.

^aThe sample size for different variables may vary from the total sample size because of missing responses. There were 333 adolescents who did not respond to the survey item that was used to assess frequency of smoking cigarettes.

^bAt least monthly but less often than daily smoking.

^cParticipants could chose more than one category; responses indicating multiple categories were coded as mixed or other.

^dThe prime determinant of SES was the higher educational level of either parent. Subsidiary variables were family eligibility for public assistance, student eligibility for free or reduced-cost school meals, and parental employment status.