Released by the Florida Department of Health …
New data from the Florida Department of Health’s Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) show an unprecedented milestone in Florida’s youth tobacco prevention efforts. According to the new data, the current high school cigarette smoking rate stands at 2.1%, the lowest it has ever been in the state.
Youth prevention remains critical to combatting tobacco use because nearly nine out of 10 smokers start by age 18. In fact, increases in vaping, or e-cigarette use, among teens threatens to reverse the positive trend we are seeing in high school cigarette smoking rates.
The Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS) was last administered in the spring of 2019. A total of 175 public high schools and middle schools in 40 Florida counties participated in the FYTS. There were 10,844 students
who participated in the 2019 FYTS; 5,700 at the high school level and 5,144 at the middle school level.
The data presented in this database were weighted to represent the entire population of public middle and high school students in Florida. To achieve weighted data (representative sample), each response rate must be
greater than or equal to the standard 60%.
2019 FYTS Response Rates:
High School:
School Response Rate: 100%
Student Response Rate: 68.6%
Overall Response Rate: 68.6%
Middle School:
School Response Rate: 94.6%
Student Response Rate: 75.7%
Overall Response Rate: 71.6%
The interactive database is a user-friendly way for public health professionals, students, teachers, parents, and the public to explore data pertaining to youth tobacco use.