Wireless-Only Households More Likely To Smoke, Drink Heavily: CDC

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--More than half of Americans now live in a home void of a landline phone. That's according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that also uncovered several interesting health attributes that the landline-less seem to share.

Why would the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study phone use? It turns out, that their need for data collection led researchers to the reality that by only calling people with landline phones they were missing out on crucial demographics, a majority of the population, as they found, for the first time in history.

According to the survey titled 'Wireless Substitution' the CDC found that in the final six months of 2016, over 50% of American homes were not equipped with a landline.

Also with this survey, came some interesting health data. For example, researchers found that a person who only used a cell phone in their home was more likely to be a current smoker and 11% more likely to drink heavily.

Alternatively, they also found that, regardless of age, the landline-less reported more frequent exercise and better overall health.

Emergency health needs do play a part in why some landline users told Eyewitness New that they do not plan to part with their's any time soon.

According to the Federal Communications Commission:

"The mobility of wireless telephone service makes determining a wireless 911 caller's location more complicated than determining a traditional wireline 911 caller's location, where numbers are associated with a fixed address."