Racial differences between smokers and non-smokers: The effect of smoking policies at work
Abstract
Recently, a social movement has attempted to impact smoking behavior in public places by the implementation of restrictive smoking policies at work. Utilizing the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (CDC, 2005) this paper will analyze racial differences in exposure to restrictive or lenient smoking policies at work and the implications of the latter for both non-smokers and smokers. Racial inequality in the distribution of wealth translates into health inequalities (Hurd and Kapteyn 2003 & Singh-Manoux and Marmot 2005) via disparities in access to resources and job acquisition. Results show that Whites have a higher incidence of current smoker status than African-Americans followed by Hispanics and that there is a higher incidence of never smoker status in work places where smoking not allowed in any work area. The results also show no indication that race/ethnicity is significantly correlated with level of smoking policy at work. These results suggest that level of smoking policy at work has an effect on smoking status of employees but more research is needed in order to ascertain to what degree.
Subject Area
Communication|Rhetoric|Composition
Recommended Citation
Zavala, Ruth D, "Racial differences between smokers and non-smokers: The effect of smoking policies at work" (2007). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1444091.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1444091