The Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) released a study showing one-fifth of the high school students in the United States have smoked or used tobacco in the past thirty days.

CDC also released a statement noting that half of the sample population that they have tested admitted that they have experimented with smoking at least once in their high school life. The report was published on Thursday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of CDC.

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The report also showed that 6.5 percent of the U.S. middles school students have tried tobacco products once but did not pursue the habit. Cigarette smoking continues to be a prevalent issue but the percentage of regular high school smokers and one-time smokers differ by less than one percent.

In the study, 12.7 percent admitted they have smoked cigarette in the past 30 days while 11.9 percent pressed that they used to smoke but no longer do so.

The study of CDC was based on data collected by the National Youth Tobacco Survey back in 2013. The survey was made public and distributed to 18, 406 schools, both private and public, across the country.

The survey was given to the students in order to report if they have used any of the listed tobacco products, which includes cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookahs, and dissolvable tobacco. The survey also asked when was the last time students used such products.

The students were also asked to describe about the use of electronic cigarette. The study showed that 4.5 percent of the students used this for smoking for the past 30 days while 11.9 percent revealed they used it at least once.

As for the middle school students, only three percent tried using electronic cigarrettes, the study said.

Due to this, health risks of e-cigarettes are still being investigated as the researchers pressed that there is a type of nicotine present in these products, noting that if could have an adverse effect on the brain development of those undergoing adolescence. 

TagsCDC, Tobacco, smoking, e-cigarette, U.S. high school students