It could have been the result of higher incomes, better diet, less smoking and so on.
Possible explanations cited by experts include obesity, a rise in drug use among less-educated whites, persistently high rates of smoking among less-educated white women, and an increase in the percentage of uninsured families among the least-educated Americans.
FORBES: Why Are Some Americans Living Shorter Lives Than Others?
Expect an even greater fall for 2010 as new cigarette tax and rising unemployment make smoking less affordable.
The reason is simple: Altria is into tobacco, but Americans are smoking less.
Many said they had made smoking less attractive, appealing or socially acceptable.
Mr Dalli has been preparing tough new EU legislation - a reform of the Tobacco Products Directive - to make smoking less attractive.
Mr Dalli, a former Maltese cabinet minister, has argued that he is the victim of a tobacco lobbying campaign to block tough new legislation - the Tobacco Directive - to make smoking less attractive.
Seen in this light, chronic added-sugar consumption is no less a problem than smoking or alcoholism.
Four out of every five women questioned said they believed smoking was less socially acceptable than it was at the start of 2003.
The reasons for the decline remain unclear, but researchers offered possible explanations, including a spike in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, rising obesity, and a steady increase in the number of the least educated Americans who lack health insurance.
Dr Penny stressed this was particularly prevalent amongst manual workers, saying the professional classes are now smoking a lot less.
But if we are to succeed, we should understand: The campaign against obesity will have to look a lot less like the campaign against smoking (which involves just one decision, to smoke or not to smoke) and much more like the generation-long campaign against highway fatalities, which required the redesign of cars, the redesign of highways, and changes in personal behavior like seat-belt use and drunk driving.
Portrayals of smoking in kid-oriented movies tend to be less than realistic and are probably a weaker influence on tween and teen behavior than smoking in films geared toward older audiences, Sargent says.
Mostly, they talk about changing some habit: eat less, work out more, stop smoking, become more organized.
However, with the exception of offering premium discounts for those who engage in a limited set of less risky behaviors (such as not smoking), premiums after 2014 no longer reflect individual medical risk factors.
Smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards - despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say.
The would-be smoking guns that start off the Hemingway piece illustrate less liberal bias than the hazards of insta-rebuttal.
Dumfries Sports Club, a multi-sport facility with a private members' bar, situated less than two miles from the centre of Dumfries, introduced a smoking ban in May 2005 following a survey of its members, who returned an overwhelming majority in favour.
They also know that the health risks of using them properly are less harmful to their bodies than eating processed foods, drinking alcohol or smoking.
FORBES: Why It's Time To Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports
Research has shown that children find plain packs less appealing and are less likely to be misled by the sophisticated marketing techniques designed to make smoking attractive to youngsters, Cancer Research UK said.
By 1988, smoking was banned on U.S. flights two hours or less, and 10 years later, all U.S. carrier flights became smoke-free.
Although smoking rates have been falling among both sexes, the decline has been less rapid in women.
Geneva and seven other cantons have already imposed their own comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.
In 1990, smoking was banned on all interstate buses and all domestic airline flights lasting six hours or less.
John Hughes, a smoking-cessation expert and professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, is slightly less enthusiastic.
应用推荐