Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BOSTON, Jul 19, 2003 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Parents with lower incomes and educational levels are more likely to have teenage children who smoke.
The University of Massachusetts study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, connect parental income and education to adolescent smoking, after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity and other factors.
The researchers divided parents' incomes into four categories -- those earning $20,000 or under; $20,000 to 30,000; $30,000 to $50,000; and more than $50,000. Each drop on the income scale meant a 30 percent increased risk of smoking by the teenager.
Parental education levels were categorized as less than high school; high school diploma; some college; and college graduate. Each step down the parents' education ladder meant a 28 percent increase in the risk of adolescent smoking.
A third contributing factor was whether a teen's parents smoked. Teens whose mothers smoked had an 85 percent increased risk of becoming smokers themselves.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
