Most teens who try to quit smoking fail

ATLANTA, April 30 (UPI) -- Despite not smoking for very long, many U.S. adolescents who smoke and try to quit are unsuccessful, federal health officials said.

The Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that interventions that prevent initiation and increase quitting should be fully implemented to lower the prevalence of smoking among youth.

Sixty-one percent of students who ever smoked cigarettes daily tried to quit smoking cigarettes; however, among those who tried to quit, 12.2 percent were successful, the report said.

The prevalence of success in quitting didn't vary by sex or race/ethnicity, however, more students in ninth grade -- 22.9 percent -- than in 10th grade at 10.7 percent, 11th grade at 8.8 percent and 12th grade at 10 percent were successful at quitting smoking.