Cigarette use among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white school children, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

We conducted a survey of cigarette usage among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White school children in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The distributions of current, experimental, and never smokers were similar in the two groups. Among smokers, the average weekly cigarette consumption was 19 for Hispanic White males, 14 for non-Hispanic White males, 16 for non-Hispanic White females, and nine for Hispanic White females. Educational programs are needed to maintain the low-risk status of Southwestern Hispanics for cigarette-related diseases.