Medicine: Teen Smoking: Non-U

Teen-agers from families of high social status smoke less than those from families of low social status, according to a Harvard study. For the university's school of public health, Drs. Eva J. Salber and Brian MacMahon surveyed the senior high school in Newton, Mass., which they chose because the social cross section is similar to much of the urban U.S. To get serious and responsible answers, the researchers got the questionnaires filled out during school hours and required students to sign them, promising that neither parents nor teachers would ever learn what was in them; 2,823 students, 90% of the enrollment, completed the forms.

The percentage of students who smoke cigarettes, Drs. Salber and MacMahon report in the American Journal of Public Health, rises among boys from 32.7% in the highest social class* to 43.6% in the lowest, and among girls from 36.4% to 47.6%. More striking still is the distribution of heavy smokers. Among boys in the top social class, only 7.4% smoke five packs or more a week, and among girls only 3.3%; but in the lower group, the figures are 12.1% for boys and 8.9% for girls.

The Newton survey showed that fathers in upper-class families smoke less than those in the lower classes. While this confirmed earlier surveys of parental influence on youngsters' smoking habits, the Newton researchers concluded that social class was a more powerful influence. As to why smoking is not entirely U, the doctors did not say.