Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use Fact Sheet

Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use Fact Sheet

Publication Date: 11 April 2006

ISBN 0-478-29935-4 (Book)
ISBN 0-478-29938-4 (Internet)

HP 4229

Citation: The Quit Group and the Ministry of Health. 2006. Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use. Fact Sheet 1. Wellington: Ministry of Health.

The fact sheet Māori Smoking & Tobacco Use provides key facts and information in relation to smoking rates, exposure to second hand smoke in the home and quit rates for smoking. This fact sheet is a joint project between the Ministry of Health and The Quit Group (Te Roopu Me Mutu).

Some key facts from the fact sheet include:

Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand.
Forty-seven percent of Māori are daily smokers, compared to 29 percent of Pacific people and 20 percent of other New Zealanders.
Māori in all age groups have higher smoking rates than non-Māori.
Overall, female smokers smoke fewer cigarettes per day than male smokers, and Māori smokers smoke slightly fewer cigarettes per day than non-Māori smokers.
Forty-five percent of Māori smokers report smoking indoors at home. Smokers who have young children living in the home are less likely to smoke indoors.
During 2005 just over 5,000 Māori registered with the national free-phone Quitline service to quit smoking.
Thirty-one percent of Māori callers had first heard of the Quitline from television advertising and 25 percent from friends and whānau.
Six months after calling the Quitline and using nicotine patches or gum, 17.4 percent of Māori had quit smoking.

By monitoring population health we can identify patterns and trends, develop appropriate programmes and polices and measure our results. High quality monitoring is a key part of Māori Health development and it is essential that initiatives to resolve Māori Health issues continue to be based on robust and accurate information.

Document availablity

Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use Fact Sheet is available on this website in PDF format below.

Māori Smoking and Tobacco Use Fact Sheet (PDF, 384 kB)

This publication is also available in hard copy. You can order a copy by emailing moh@wickliffe.co.nz or calling 04 496 2277 quoting HP number 4229. Please let us know your name, your physical address and how many copies you would like.

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Related information

Tobacco Control and Smoking
Māori Health Directorate