The smoking statistics came on the heels of another CDC report released this summer that showed Puerto Ricans appear to have the worst health among not only their Hispanic peers, but also compared with non-Hispanic Americans.
Policymakers use such statistics to decide how to fund health programs, including those that help smokers quit and prevent people from picking up the habit in the first place. But one-size-fits-all anti-smoking campaigns may not work across Hispanic and Latino groups, Giachello said.
“If you have scarce resources, you want those resources, in terms of the Puerto Ricans in the United States, to go maybe more toward smoking cessation than prevention,” Giachello said. “But because we know that Central Americans have lower rates, what we want is to maintain that lower rate.”
Cigarette smoking damages blood vessels and may cause atherosclerosis, a disease where plaque builds up in the arteries. Over time, this can lead to heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Secondhand smoke also has been linked to cardiovascular problems, lung damage, asthma and ear infections in children.
Although there has been “considerable progress” in reducing U.S. smoking rates over the past 30 years, the recent findings suggest enough hasn’t been done to curb smoking among Puerto Ricans and Cubans, said Brian King, Ph.D., deputy director for research translation in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.
The statistics underscore “that more targeted efforts are warranted if we’re going to reduce tobacco use universally across the entire population,” he said.
