Adolescent use of e-cigarettes has tripled over 1-year period

While the use of cigarette, cigar and other tobacco products has decreased among youths, the use of electronic cigarettes and hookahs have dramatically increased since 2011, according to the CDC.

“In today’s rapidly evolving tobacco marketplace, the surge in youth use of novel products like e-cigarettes forces us to confront the reality that the progress we have made in reducing youth cigarette smoking rates is being threaten. These staggering increases in such a short time underscore why FDA intends to regulate these additional products to protect public health,” Mitch Zeller, JD, director of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a press release.

Researchers evaluated data from the National Youth Tobacco Surveys from 2011 to 2014, to study the trends of current tobacco use among U.S. children in grades 6 through 12.

Overall, in 2014, 3.7 million high school students and 900,000 middle school students reported using at least one tobacco product. Electronic cigarettes were used by nearly 2.4 million youths and hookah was used by 1.6 million youths.

Among high school students, 24.6% reported currently using one tobacco product, with 12.7% reporting the use of two or more products. The most common tobacco product used was electronic cigarettes at 13.4%, which saw a significant increase from 1.5% in 2011.  Hookah usage also saw a large increase from 4.1% in 2011 to 9.4% in 2014. A significant decrease was seen in the use of cigarettes, 15.8% in 2011 to 9.2% in 2014, and in snus from 2.9% in 2011 to 1.9% in 2014. Comparable trends were also seen among middle school students.

Despite usage decreases in cigarette, cigar, snus and other tobacco products, the drastic increase in e-cigarettes and hookah use negate the decreases, resulting in no overall change in tobacco use among adolescents.

Researchers noted that it was critical to implement comprehensive tobacco control policies and prevention techniques in order to deter youths from any tobacco products, not just cigarettes.

“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar. Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use,” Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, said in a press release. – by Casey Hower

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.