Smoking status and racial/ethnic disparities in youth exposure to tobacco advertising

Abstract

Tobacco advertising exposure increases tobacco use among youth. Data were from a largely racial and ethnic minority sample (60% non-Hispanic (NH) Black/African American) of youth (13–18 years) who were nonsmokers susceptible to future tobacco use (n = 686) or current cigarette smokers (n = 674). Regression models tested associations between tobacco advertisement exposure and smoking status, and determined demographic correlates. Nearly all youth recalled seeing a tobacco advertisement (98%), which was associated with smoking (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.08–1.15). Racial minority youth had higher exposure to tobacco advertising. Policies restricting advertisements for all tobacco products are essential for prevention efforts and may help decrease tobacco-related health disparities.

Keywords:

• Youth
• tobacco advertising
• tobacco use
• racial minorities
• health disparities

Acknowledgments

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The authors would like to thank the participants and their parents, our community recruitment partner Research Unlimited, and our External Advisory Board (Dr. Pamela Ling, Dr. Kurt Ribisl, Dr. Georgia Polacek) for their contributions to this work.

Disclosure statement

No conflicts of interest to report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth under Grant 8521068; the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health and Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under Grants R03DA043005 and U54DA0361905; and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Grants T32CA093423, 5UG1CA189869, and P30CA016059. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, National Institutes of Health or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The authors would like to thank the participants and their parents, our community recruitment partner Research Unlimited, and our External Advisory Board (Dr. Pamela Ling, Dr. Kurt Ribisl, Dr. Georgia Polacek) for their contributions to this work.