Cigarette smoking among adults--United States, 2006.

One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to > or =12% (objective 7-1a). To assess progress toward achieving this objective, CDC analyzed data from the 2006 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that in 2006, approximately 20.8% of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers. This prevalence had not changed significantly since 2004, suggesting a stall in the previous 7-year (1997-2004) decline in cigarette smoking among adults in the United States. In addition, the findings indicated that persons with a diagnosis of a smoking-related chronic disease have a significantly higher prevalence of being a current smoker than persons with other chronic diseases or persons with no chronic disease. To reduce smoking prevalence further in the United States, comprehensive, evidence-based approaches for preventing smoking initiation and increasing cessation, including clinical interventions for populations at high risk, need to be fully implemented.