May 17, 2005 One out of four high school students in south
central Louisiana smoked cigarettes in the past month, say
Tulane University researchers. Their research among high school
students in six Acadian parishes revealed a high prevalence of
smoking as well as the factors that affect teens' decisions to
try smoking. Teens who reported that most or all of their
friends smoked were most likely to be smokers as well,
researchers say. "This smoking rate is higher than the reported
national smoking rate for ninth graders," says Carolyn Johnson,
lead author and principal investigator of the study. "Being
engaged and successful at school has a strong impact on whether
teens smoke or not, as do family members and friends and their
choices to smoke or not." The researchers found that white teens
were smoking at a significantly higher rate than African-
American teens. According to Johnson, the researchers found that
white females were just as likely to smoke as white males,
although nationally more males than female