Hispanic and Latino People Experience a Health Burden From Commercial Tobacco

At a glance

  • Commercial tobacco use varies among diverse Hispanic/Latino population groups.
  • People from some Hispanic ethnic groups suffer from poor health outcomes related to the use of commercial tobacco products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars.
Women with infant and doctor

Overview

Commercial tobacco gets in the way of achieving health equity for Hispanic/Latino people.A

Map showing Central and South American regions and countries
There are differences in cigarette smoking by country of birth.

Public health research on United States (U.S.) commercial tobacco use often reports outcomes for diverse groups of Hispanic/Latino people as one group in survey data. Data show that Hispanic people in the U.S., on average, smoke at lower rates than people from most other racial/ethnic groups.1 In 2020, 8.2% of Hispanic adults in the U.S. smoked cigarettes.2 However, commercial tobacco use varies among diverse Hispanic/Latino population groups. For example:

  • Differences by country of birth: Hispanic adults who were born in the U.S. are more likely to smoke cigarettes than Hispanic adults who live in the U.S. but were born in another country.3
  • Puerto Rican people are more likely to smoke than Mexican and Dominican people in the U.S.4
  • People who report Cuban ethnicity who smoke use more cigarettes per day than people from other Hispanic ethnic groups who smoke daily.1 In one study of Hispanic adults in the U.S., about 50% of Cuban men and 35% of Cuban women reported smoking 20 or more cigarettes per day.1

Commercial tobacco use rates among Hispanic/Latino people are also different for youth. For example, the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey5 showed that:

  • 7.4% of Hispanic middle and high school students currently used any tobacco product.
  • 9.1% of Hispanic high school students currently used any tobacco product compared to non-Hispanic White students (16.2%) and non-Hispanic Black students (11.0%).
  • 5.3% of Hispanic middle school students currently used any tobacco product compared to non-Hispanic White students (3.4%) and non-Hispanic Black students (4.5%).

The Hispanic/Latino population comprise 19% of the U.S. population or an estimated 62 million people (including Puerto Rico). They represent the nation's second largest racial/ethnic population segment (after non-Hispanic White people).67 However, significant differences in disease prevalence, access to care, and health outcomes exist for Hispanic/Latino communities in the U.S.

People from some Hispanic ethnic groups suffer from poor health outcomes related to the use of commercial tobacco products like cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars.3 For example:

  • Cancer, heart disease, and stroke—all of which can be caused by cigarette smoking—are among the five leading causes of death among Hispanic people.8910
  • Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death among Hispanic people.911 The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 30% to 40% higher for those who smoke cigarettes than those who don't smoke, and smoking can worsen complications from diabetes.11
  • Puerto Rican people are more likely to have asthma than any other racial and ethnic group, including Black people and other Hispanic ethnic groups.12 Secondhand smoke—which comes from the burning end of a cigarette or other commercial tobacco product or is breathed out by a person who is smoking—can make asthma symptoms worse, particularly in children.
Woman with infant and doctor
Some Hispanic and Latino people experience tobacco product-related health outcomes.
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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; Office on Smoking and Health
  1. "Commercial tobacco" means harmful products that are made and sold by tobacco companies. It does not include "traditional tobacco" used by Indigenous groups for religious or ceremonial purposes.
  1. Cornelius ME, Loretan CG, Wang TW, Jamal A, Homa DM. Tobacco product use among adults — United States, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022;71:397–405. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7111a1
  2. Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, et al. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2022;71(No. SS-5):1–29. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss7105a1
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tobacco Use Among U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Groups—African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics: A Report of the Surgeon General. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 1998. Accessed January 19, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr4718.pdf
  4. Schoenborn CA, Adams PF, Peregoy JA. Health behaviors of adults: United States, 2008-2010. Vital Health Stat 10. 2013;(257):1–184.
  5. Robinson RG, Barry M, Bloch M, et al. Report of the Tobacco Policy Research Group on marketing and promotions targeted at African Americans, Latinos, and women. Tob Control. 1992;1:S24–S30. doi:10.1136/tc.1.suppl1.S24
  6. Gardiner PS. The African Americanization of menthol cigarette use in the United States. Nicotine Tob Res. 2004:V6(S1): S55–S65. doi:10.1080/14622200310001649478
  7. Gately I. Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization. Grove Press; 2001.
  8. Morgan ES. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. Norton; 1975:154–157.
  9. McCandless PM, Yerger VB, Malone RE. Quid pro quo: tobacco companies and the black press. Am J Public Health. 2012;102(4):739–750. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300180
  10. Prather C, Fuller TR, Jeffries WL 4th, et al. Racism, African American women, and their sexual and reproductive health: a review of historical and contemporary evidence and implications for health equity. Health Equity. 2018;2(1):249–259. doi:10.1089/heq.2017.0045
  11. Institute of Medicine Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR, eds. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. National Academies Press; 2003. Accessed January 19, 2021. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12875/unequal-treatment-confronting-racial-and-ethnic-disparities-in-health-care
  12. Institute of Medicine Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance. Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late. National Academies Press; 2002. Accessed January 19, 2021. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10367/care-without-coverage-too-little-too-late