There are large disparities in smoking prevalence among American adults across industry and occupation groups. Smoking is lowest in the education services industry (9.7%) and highest in the mining and food services industries (30.0%). Similar results were found when looking at individuals' occupations. By occupation, smoking is lowest among adults with education, training and library jobs (8.7%) and highest among those in construction and extraction jobs (31.4%). Effective employer interventions are available to reduce smoking, including 100% smoke-free workplace policies, easily accessible help for those who want to quit, and health insurance with little or no co-payment for cessation treatments. These interventions can improve employee health, decrease absenteeism, and reduce utilization of health care resources.

The online version of the journal is available on the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.


Links: Copy of the September 30 MMWR (see pages 1305-1309); MMWR Highlights

Source: CDC/Office on Smoking and Health