Minority Boys Turn To Smoking After Facing Discrimination

Minority boys, but not girls, turn to smoking when they perceive discrimination, according to a study published in the March 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine conducted a study of 2,561 black and Latino adolescents, 12-19 years old, from low-income households in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, and found that 1 in 4 of the participants reported discrimination at least once within the last 6 months.

The findings of the study revealed that while minority boys smoked more when they perceived discrimination there was no association between perceived discrimination and smoking in minority girls, 12-15 years old.

"Boys and girls may experience discriminiation differently due to where they spend time and that may account for the differences in wheter discrimination was associated with smoking," said Sarah Wiehe, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine. "We need to be aware that discrimination is a public health problem for adolescents - one related to major health issues like smoking - and need to actively work to reduce these occurrences."

Dr. Wiehe suggested that boys' increased smoking in higher discrimination settings may be a result of increased stress from gender-specific targeting by police and businesses. "Because of the vrey high smoking rates among young minority men, law enforcement, schools, and health care providers need to work closely with communities to prevent smoking initiation," said J. Dennis Fortenberry, MD, MS, professor of pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine and senior author of the paper.