28 Mar 2015

Smoking among Maori girls stubbornly high

5:23 pm on 28 March 2015

It appears Maori girls are refusing to give up smoking, and adult role models are being blamed.

A new survey by Action on Smoking and Health shows smoking among 14 and 15 year olds is at its lowest level in 15 years.

Just three percent are still smoking.

But ASH director Stephanie Erick said Maori girls at that age are 4 times more likely to smoke than non-Maori.

She said the messages simply are not getting through, and that was partly because of poor role models in some parents.

Ms Erick is continuing to push for plain packaging and said that would also be a deterrent.