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Teens more likely to vape if parents smoke, study says

Teens more likely to vape if parents smoke, study says

2022-09-05

Adolescents whose parents are smokers are 55 percent more likely to try e-cigarettes, according to a study presented at the International Congress of the European Respiratory Society in Barcelona, Spain, according to foreign reports.


In a large study of Irish teenagers, researchers also found that the proportion of people who have tried e-cigarettes has been increasing sharply, and that while boys are more likely to use e-cigarettes, it is increasing faster in girls.


Researchers highlight the risks associated with nicotine addiction and call for more effective regulation to protect children and adolescents.


The research was carried out by a team at the Tobacco Free Ireland Research Institute (TFRI) in Dublin. They examined data on 6,216 adolescents aged 17-18, including information on whether their parents smoked while growing up. Teens were asked if they smoked or used e-cigarettes.


Research shows that teens whose parents smoke are 55% more likely to have tried e-cigarettes and about 51% more likely to have tried cigarettes.


The team has also combined several Irish datasets to provide the most comprehensive analysis of youth e-cigarette use in Ireland, with information on more than 10,000 Irish youths (16-17 years old), to understand the risk of trying or regularly using e-cigarettes The total number of teens vaping and how it has changed over time.


This shows that the proportion who have tried e-cigarettes rose from 23% in 2014 to 39% in 2019.


The main reasons teens tried e-cigarettes were curiosity (66%) and their friends vaping (29%). Only 3% said it was quitting smoking. The percentage who said they had never used tobacco when they tried e-cigarettes for the first time increased from 32% in 2015 to 68% in 2019.


Professor Luke Clancy, Director General of TFRI, explained: “We are seeing increasing use of e-cigarettes among Irish teenagers and this is a pattern that is emerging in other parts of the world. Some believe that e-cigarettes are a better alternative to smoking , but our research shows that this does not apply to teens who have not generally tried cigarettes before vaping. This suggests that for teens, vaping is a pathway into nicotine addiction, not a way out of it.


Finally, the researchers looked in detail at data from 3,421 16-year-olds to see if there were differences between boys and girls. Although boys were more likely to try or use e-cigarettes, the researchers found that the proportion of girls was growing faster, with 23 percent of girls saying they had tried e-cigarettes in 2015, 39 percent in 2019, and 10 percent saying they were currently vaping Use of e-cigarettes rose in 2015 to 18% in 2019.


The researchers found that having friends who smoke and less parental supervision were both major factors in teen e-cigarette use, more so in boys than in girls.


Doctoral researcher Ms Salome Sunday told Parliament: "We can see that parents and friends have an influence on a teen's decision to try vaping, which is important because these are factors that we can try to change. However, governments need to play their part by creating laws to protect children and young people. We've done that with smoking, and we need to do the same with vaping.


Lead researcher Dr Joan Hanafin added: "We can see rapid changes in the number of young people vaping, so we need to continue to monitor the situation in Ireland and around the world. We also plan to study social media to understand how this affects vaping behaviour in girls and boys.


Professor Jonathan Gregg, chair of the European Respiratory Society's Tobacco Control Committee, was not involved in the study.


He said: "These findings are concerning, not just for teenagers in Ireland but for families around the world. We already know that children whose parents smoke are more likely to smoke. The study showed that teens were also influenced by their smoking parents to start using e-cigarettes and become addicted to nicotine.


"This work shows that more and more teens are trying e-cigarettes, but they are not doing it to help them quit. This is important because we know that e-cigarettes are not harmless. The effects of nicotine addiction are well recognized, We've found that vaping damages the lungs, blood vessels and brain. We need to do more to protect children and adolescents from these injuries."


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