2003 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey

The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) is a statewide school-based confidential survey of Florida (United States) public middle and high school students. The FYTS tracks indicators of tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke among these students and is a primary source of data for monitoring and evaluation of Florida's youth-focused Tobacco Control Program. This annual evaluation was administered in March-April 2003 and is organised around the broad Florida Tobacco Prevention and Control Program goals of prevention and reduction of tobacco use, and the elimination of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

Although the Florida Department of Health indicates that this document is focused on "program outcomes", it does not actually evaluate a specific campaign. Instead, it assesses changes in attitudes and behaviour that FYTS organisers assume to be a result of their campaign.

The FYTS is based on a 2-stage cluster probability sample design. First, a random sample of public middle schools and high schools is selected for participation in the survey. Then, within each selected school, a random sample of classrooms is selected, and all students in that class are invited to participate in the survey. The responses of the survey participants are calculated to reflect the prevalence of tobacco usage in Florida public middle and high school students.

The 2003 FYTS included a sample of 4,645 students attending 75 middle schools (grades 6 to 8) and 4,504 students attending 77 high schools (grades 9-12) across the state. Overall response rates were 75.5% for the middle school survey and 74.4% for the high school survey, based on school response rates of 93.8% for middle school and 97.5% for high school, and student response rates of 80.6% for middle school and 76.3% for high school.

Of all the students surveyed in 2003, 85% believed that they could quit smoking if they want to quit. Amongst current smokers, 76.0% of those who have tried to quit 3 or more times also believe they can quit (compared to 84.4% of those who have never tried to quit). Over two-thirds (67.3%) of those who smoked cigarettes every day for the previous 30 days believe they can quit smoking if they want to quit. Over time, more and more students are also more aware of their friends' smoking status. Nearly 1 out of 5 students exposed to second-hand smoke in the previous 7 days indicated that the person usually smoking was a friend.

The commitment to never smoking is, according to the authors, an important barometer of tobacco attitudes. These are students who will "definitely not" try a cigarette in the near future. The number of middle school students who fit this category was up to 60.1% in 2003 form 56.4% the year before and form 38.9% in 1998. The number of high school students who fit this category was up to 45.3% in 2003 from 43.2% the year before (though this was again not significant), and from 25% in 1998. The evaluation notes however, that despite these improvements the commitment to never smoking usually decreases as students advance in grade level.

While more than a quarter (26.3%) of middle school students and half (50.4%) of high school students had ever tried smoking a cigarette in 2003, those numbers continued to reflect a steady decline over time. These rates were down from 30.6% and 52.2% respectively from the year before (2002) though the data for high school students was not statistically significant. In addition, rates have declined substantially since 1998 from 43.6% for middle students and 68.1% for high-school students. Non-Hispanic white students remained the most likely to have tried a cigarette (at 55.8%) compared to 49.5% of Hispanics. In 2003, 3.7% of middle and high school students smoked cigarettes on all of the previous 30 days and were classed as regular smokers. The percentage of students who were current daily smokers was higher among high school students (5.8%) than among middle school students (1.2%), though in both cases this was down significantly from the 1998 levels of 10.2% and 4%, respectively. Experimenters are those students who have occasional tried smoking but never smoked daily and do not smoke currently. Male students typically have a higher rate of experimentation. Both middle and high school students have experienced a statistically significant decline in experimental use of cigarettes during the 6-year period from 21.4% to 16.2% and from 32.7% to 28.8%, respectively.

In conclusion, compared to 2002, almost all main indicators in 2003 were either improved or at least maintained at the level in 2002. Since the inception of the Florida Tobacco Prevention and Control Program in 1998 (then as a pilot project), Florida has seen a dramatic decrease in youth smoking and overall tobacco use. Between 1998 and 2003, the percentage of middle school students who smoked in the previous month was cut by 56.8% and high school smoking rates declined by 36.1%.

Click here for the full report in PDF format.

For more information, contact:

John O. Agwunobi, M.D., M.B.A.

Secretary, Department of Health

Florida Department of Health

Bureau of Epidemiology

2020 Capital Circle S.E.

Bin # A-12

Tallahassee, FL 32399-1720 USA

Tel.: (850) 245-4401

Florida Department of Health site