Vaping Among Teens: A Threat to Decades of Smoking Decline

Strategic Insights -

Teenagers who vape today are just as likely to start smoking tobacco as young people growing up in the 1970s, according to new research. A long-term study found that teenagers who vape are 33 percent more likely to take up tobacco compared to those who don't. The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, showed a decline in teenage smoking prevalence from 33 percent in 1974 to 12 percent in 2018, due to tougher tobacco control laws and a greater awareness of smoking's dangers. However, the research revealed that among today's teens, those who vape remain just as likely to smoke cigarettes as their peers half a century ago.

Key Takeaways:

  • Teenagers who vape today are 33 percent more likely to start smoking tobacco than those who don't.
  • The study found that only around 1.5 percent of non-vaping 17-year-olds reported current smoking, compared with 33 percent of those who currently vaped.
  • Vaping appears to undermine progress made in reducing teenage smoking rates, with the likelihood of smoking cigarettes among teen vapers reversing the declining trend.
  • Early alcohol use, parental smoking, mothers' education, and children's engagement with school are risk factors that can influence teen smoking.
  • Parental smoking rates have dropped from over 70 percent in the 1970s cohort to 27 percent among the most recent group.
  • Despite changes in these risk factors, vaping appears to undermine progress made in reducing teenage smoking rates.
  • The study's authors cautioned that the findings do not prove vaping directly causes smoking, but warned that efforts to reduce smoking among young people must now also address vaping.

Statistics:

  • 1.1 million young people between the ages of 11 and 17 vape in the UK, according to figures from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
  • 100,000 young people in the UK smoke, according to Ash figures.
  • 33 percent of teenagers who vape are likely to take up tobacco, compared to 12 percent of non-vaping teenagers.
  • 1.5 percent of non-vaping 17-year-olds reported current smoking, compared with 33 percent of those who currently vaped.
  • The likelihood of smoking cigarettes among teen vapers has effectively reversed the declining trend, with those who vaped having an almost one in three chance of also smoking cigarettes.

Sources:

  • New research published in the journal Tobacco Control (date not specified)
  • Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) figures (no date specified)
  • University of Michigan study (date not specified)