Cigarette Smoking - Women in United States

United States

As the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for the deaths of more than 480,000 Americans every year, including 201,770 women. One study has estimated the probability of females who smoke living to age 80 to be 38%, compared with 70% for females who do not smoke. Smoking affects nearly every organ and can cause cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Smoking can also impact people who do not smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure can lead to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), respiratory and ear infections in infants and children, and heart disease and lung cancer in adults. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes an estimated 41,000 deaths among adults in the U.S. every year. 

Women who smoke are more likely to have reduced fertility, go through menopause at a younger age and experience adverse birth outcomes, including miscarriage and SIDS. Infants born to women who smoked during pregnancy have a higher risk of preterm birth, low birth weight and issues with lung and brain development that can last into childhood or adulthood.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes, especially among youth and young adults. E-cigarettes often contain nicotine and other cancer-causing chemicals. Studies show mixed results on whether e-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation method. For this reason, the Food and Drug Administration does not recommend e-cigarettes as a method to quit smoking. 

Smoking is estimated to cost the U.S. more than $600 billion annually, including more than $240 billion in health care spending and nearly $185 billion from lost productivity due to smoking-related illness.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of smoking is higher among:

• Women ages 35-44 compared with younger women. The prevalence is higher with each increase in age group.
• American Indian/Alaska Native women, who have a prevalence more than eight times that of Asian women.
• Women with less than a high school education, who have a prevalence five times that of college graduates.
• Women with an annual household income less than $25,000 compared with women who have an income of $150,000 or more. The prevalence is lower with each increase in income level.
• Women with a disability compared with women who do not have a disability.
• Women living in nonmetropolitan areas compared with women in metropolitan areas.
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ+) women compared with straight women.

Quitting smoking can have profound benefits on current and long-term health, even among those who smoke heavily or for a long time:

• The risk of stroke decreases five to ten years after quitting. 
• Pregnant women who quit smoking early in their pregnancy reduce the risk of premature birth and low birth weight.
• Individuals who quit smoking before age 35 live an average of eight years longer than those who continue.

Smoking prevention and cessation resources are available online: 

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidelines on and examples of successful programs for preventing and controlling tobacco use.
• Smokefree.gov provides free, accurate and evidence-based information as well as professional assistance to support the immediate and long-term needs of people who smoke trying to quit, including resources specifically for pregnant women. Estimates have shown that for every dollar invested in smoking cessation programs and relapse prevention for pregnant women, $3 is saved in future health care costs.

Healthy People 2030 has multiple objectives regarding adult tobacco use, including reducing current cigarette smoking and increasing past-year attempts to quit smoking.

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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/.

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