A major quantity of teens who strive vaping have by no means smoked, a brand new examine from Ireland suggests.
Researchers from the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland stated that the proportion of Irish 16- and 17-year-olds who had tried e-cigarettes had elevated from 23% in 2014 to 39% in 2019.
The 39% of adolescents who stated they’d tried e-cigarettes compares with 32% who had tried smoking.
And 68% of those that had tried e-cigarettes stated that they’d by no means tried smoking.
The foremost causes youngsters gave for making an attempt e-cigarettes have been curiosity (66%) and since their associates have been vaping (29%), in accordance with figures from 1000’s of youngsters.
Only 3% stated it was to stop smoking.
Meanwhile, researchers stated that children whose mother and father are people who smoke are 55% extra more likely to strive e-cigarettes.
The new analysis, offered on the 2022 European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain, additionally discovered that these children have been 51% extra more likely to have tried smoking.
The Institute’s director-general Professor Dr Luke Clancy stated: “We have found increasing use of e-cigarettes in Irish teenagers and that’s a pattern that is emerging elsewhere in the world.
”There’s a notion that vaping is a greater various to smoking, however our analysis reveals that this doesn’t apply to youngsters who often haven’t tried cigarettes previous to e-cigarettes.
”This signifies that, for teens, vaping is a route into nicotine dependancy, fairly than out of it.”
Lead researcher Dr Joan Hanafin added: “We can see that the number of teenagers using e-cigarettes is changing fast, so we need to keep monitoring the situation in Ireland and around the world.
”We additionally plan to review social media to know how this influences women’ and boys’ vaping behaviour.”
Commenting on the examine, European Respiratory Society’s Tobacco Control Committee chair Prof Dr Jonathan Grigg stated: ”These findings are worrying, not only for youngsters in Ireland, however for households all all over the world.”
While it’s unlawful to promote vaping merchandise to these aged beneath 18 in most international locations, well being consultants concern the proportion of kids and teens at the moment vaping is on the rise. – PA Media/dpa
