One in five Americans still lighting up

LOS ANGELES -- After 40 years of continual declines, the smoking rate in the United States has stabilized for the past five years, with one in every five Americans -- true for both adults and teenagers -- still smoking regularly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Moreover, more than half of all children are exposed to secondhand smoke and 98 percent of those who live with a smoker have measurable levels of toxic chemicals in their bloodstream, setting them up for future harm from cancer, heart disease and a variety of other ailments.

"If you smoke and have children, don't kid yourself. Your smoke is harming your children," Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director, said.

The study found that:

24 percent of men smoke, compared with 18 percent of women.

Nearly half of those with a GED and a quarter of those with no high school diploma smoke, compared with only 6 percent of those with a graduate degree.

About 31 percent of those who smoke live below the poverty level.

Nearly 30 percent of multiracial adults and 23 percent of American Indian and Alaska natives smoke.