The Daredevils Without Landlines -- And Why Health Experts Are Tracking Them

A Q&A with Stephen Blumberg, associate director for science int he division of Health Interview Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Nearly half of US homes don't have a landline and rely on cellphones instead, according to a recent federal report. The number predictably has been climbing over the years, now surpassing even the households with both a landline and a mobile phone. And it's tracked -- of all agencies -- by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics records all kinds of trends about the state of Americans' health. One of its surveys traces the decline of landlines and what kinds of health habits are common to mobile-only homes. (Hint: the drinking and smoking kind.) How did the CDC become the expert on the rise of the cellphone use? I spoke with Stephen Blumberg, who's been leading this research.