Slight U.S. adult smoking dip

ATLANTA, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- An estimated 43.4 million people, or 19.8 percent of U.S. adults were current smokers in 2007, down from 20.8 percent in 2006, health officials said.

A study reported in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality weekly report said based on the current rate of decline, it is unlikely that the national health objective of reducing the prevalence of adult cigarette smoking to 12 percent or lower will be met by 2010.

After three years during which prevalence in current cigarette smoking among adults remained virtually unchanged -- 20.9 percent in 2004, 20.9 percent in 2005 and 20.8 percent in 2006 -- the prevalence in 2007 at 19.8 represented a significant drop. In 2007, 39.8 percent of adult everyday smokers had stopped smoking for one day or more in the past 12 months because they were trying to quit, the report said.

"The good news, we continue to see fewer people smoking," Janet Collins, director of CDC′s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement. "The bad news is we need more people to quit. Quitting smoking is the most important step smokers can take to improve their health and protect the health of non-smoking family members."