America's teenagers continue to light up in increasing numbers.

A report issued yesterday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the proportion of high school students who reported having smoked within the previous 30 days had increased from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 34.8 percent in 1995, the latest figure available. Some 41 percent of the students age 17 and under said they bought cigarettes themselves from stores or vending machines, according to the CDC's weekly "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."

The rate of increase was especially steep among African American boys, who in the past have had much lower smoking rates than high school boys of other races. In 1995, the proportion of African American boys in grades 9 through 12 who reported they smoked was 27.8 percent, almost double the 1991 figure of 14.1 percent.