More than 29 percent of United States military veterans reported tobacco product use in annual national health surveys conducted between 2010 and 2015, according to the CDC's most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
For the report, researchers examined the responses of more than 13,000 veterans participating in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is conducted annually. Nearly 3 in 10 veterans — 29.2 percent — reported some type of tobacco use within the last 30 days at the time of the survey.
The most popular tobacco-related practice among veterans was cigarette use ( 21.6 percent), followed by cigar use (6.2 percent), smokeless tobacco use (5.2 percent), roll-your-own tobacco use (3.0 percent) and pipe tobacco use (1.5 percent). Additionally, tobacco use was more common among uninsured veterans and veterans living in poverty.
"These findings highlight the importance of further protecting the health of our military veterans," said Dr. Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC's office on smoking and health. "We must redouble our efforts to help veterans quit and reduce the preventable suffering and premature death caused by tobacco use."
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