Cigarette smoking among adults--United States, 2003.

One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to 12%. To assess progress toward this objective, CDC analyzed self-reported data from the 2003 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The results of that analysis indicated that, in 2003, approximately 21.6% of U.S. adults were current smokers. Although this prevalence is lower than the 22.5% prevalence among U.S. adults in 2002 and significantly lower than the 22.8% prevalence in 2001, the rate of decline is not sufficient to meet the national health objective for 2010. Comprehensive, sustained interventions that reduce the rate of smoking initiation and increase the rate of cessation are needed to further the decline in cigarette smoking among adults.