The table reveals how smoking evolved into a fad among 15-to-20-year-old Britons in the period 1970 to 2000.
In 1970, smoking was not very popular among youngsters aged 15 to 20, with only 10 percent of males smoking, and 5% in females. The following decade saw a dramatic change: the smoking rate among males leapt nearly 13% every five years to 35% in 1980, compared to a slower growth in females, rising approximately 8% every five years to 22% in 1980.
Over the period between 1980 and 1990, smoking remained popular among young males, accounting for over a third of the 15-to-20 male population while young females showed a growing interest in smoking, pushing the smoking rate first to 34% in 1985, and then to 37% in 1990, even outmatching their male counterparts.
Over the final years of the last century, the smoking craze in the 15-20 age group abated, either for males or for females. In 2000, an estimated 27% to 28% of people in this age group were reported as smokers, lower than the previous years, albeit still more than three times higher than 30 years earlier.
From the table, it is clear that the 15-to-20-year-old population in Britain had a much higher percentage of smokers by the end of the last century than in the early 1970s
