STUDY SHOWS HIGH SMOKING RATE AMONG ASIAN-AMERICAN MEN

Many still don't realize health risks, poll says

Associated Press - Nearly a third of Vietnamese-American and
Korean-American men use cigarettes, and a substantial number of people in
those communities don't realize the health risks associated with smoking,
according to a study released Wednesday.

The nationwide tobacco study -- believed to be the first of its kind
conducted in Asian languages -- also found that a third of the women in
Vietnamese and Korean communities often are exposed to secondhand smoke at
home.

``Cigarette addiction is clearly a problem among Asian-American smokers,''
the study concluded. ``Current programs to help smokers kick the habit are
. . . not reaching Asian-American communities.''

In the Bay Area, some anti-smoking programs aimed at the area's large
Vietnamese emigre population have worked, said Dr. Nam Tran of the Santa
Clara Valley Health and Hospital System.

A decade ago, Nam said, about 57 percent of Vietnamese men in Santa Clara,
San Francisco and Alameda counties smoked. Today, about 35 percent do.

An alarming trend, though, Nam said, is that although older smokers have
kicked the habit, teen smoking is increasing.

The county has held anti-smoking classes in Vietnamese. To help lure people
to quit, Nam has even offered $50 gift certificates to students.

The smoking study took questions from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention survey and translated them for the 811 respondents, most of
whom were foreign-born.

The CDC survey, conducted primarily in English, found that 20.4 percent of
Asian-American men smoke. The new study, released in Washington, D.C.,
found that 34 percent of Vietnamese-American and 31 percent of
Korean-American men currently smoke.

``Government surveys which are conducted only in English may be only
telling part of the story,'' said Mary Chung, president of the San
Francisco-based National Asian Women's Health Organization, which
commissioned the study.

Smoking rates among women were much lower, but one in three faced ``heavy
exposure'' to secondhand smoke at home, the study found. More than
two-thirds of those surveyed attempted to quit smoking, but failed.

The study also found that 34 percent of Vietnamese-Americans and 12 percent
of Korean-Americans were unaware that smoking can be addictive. One in five
did not know that smoking has been linked to bronchitis, emphysema,
pulmonary disease and mouth cancer.

Compared to 20.4 percent for Asian-American men, CDC data from 1994 showed
that 28 percent of white men smoke. The figures were 33.9 percent for black
men, 24.3 percent for Hispanic men and 53.7 percent for American Indian
men.

Lleyln Grant, a spokesman for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, noted
that the agency does try to find a person in the home to translate for
respondents and has at times hired professional translators.

``We make every effort to get an accurate survey,'' Grant said.

The study was conducted by telephone from Nov. 22 to Dec. 15.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED Anti-smoking classes in Vietnamese are held
intermittently throughout the year. For more information, contact Dr. Nam
Tran, (408) 945-8702.

Mercury News Staff Writer De Tran contributed to this report.