Due to social media impact, more kids are vaping.
The report, which was made available to the PA news agency only, reveals that disposable, more modern e-cigarettes are becoming more and more popular. They come in a variety of fruity flavours and cost about £5 apiece.
According to data from a poll of kids conducted for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and partially financed by the Department of Health, many kids are drawn to the gadgets that can be found on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Disposable e-cigarettes were cited as their preferred product by 52% of young people who vape, a sharp increase from the 7% who made the same claim in 2020.
A brand-new class of disposable vapes called “puff bars” that contain nicotine have entered the market in the past year.
According to the study, Elf Bar and Geek Bar are the most widely used brands, with only 32% of young vapers claiming to use a different brand.
The sale of vapes to people under the age of 18 is prohibited, yet posts from teens on social media about new vapes and their flavors—including pink lemonade, strawberry banana, and mango—are common.
A total of 2,613 kids from all around Great Britain participated in the YouGov survey that was conducted in March and used as the basis for ASH’s research.
While “regular use of e-cigarettes has dramatically increased,” the majority of 11 to 17-year-olds (84%) had never tried an e-cigarette, and the vast majority of current vapers are smokers or former smokers, according to the overall findings.
According to the research, the percentage of kids between the ages of 11 and 17 who now vape increased from 4% in 2020 to 7% in 2022.
Additionally, the proportion of people who have tried vaping has increased, from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2022.
Only 3% of 11 to 15-year-old children vaped at any time in 2013, but that number increased to 8% in 2020 and 10% in 2022.
In 2022, the percentage of persons between the ages of 16 and 17 increased from 7% in 2013. 18-year-olds saw an increase from 9% to 41%.
Overall, 4% of 11 to 15-year-olds and 14% of 16 and 17-year-olds use vaping products.
Less children between the ages of 11 and 17 had smoked regularly; this number fell from 16% in 2020 to 14% in 2022.
“Over the past year, disposable vapes have been increasingly popular. They are small, colourful goods with delicious flavours.”
ASH Deborah Arnott
The poll addressed teenagers about their knowledge of the promotion of e-cigarettes for the first time this year.
The majority of 11 to 17-year-olds (56%) who had ever vaped were the most aware of e-cigarette advertising (72%).
Youngsters most frequently named TikTok (reported by 45% of children) as a source of online promotion, followed by Instagram (indicated by 31%) and Snapchat (22%).
The majority of underage vapers (47%), compared to 10% who purchase them online and 43% who receive them as gifts, obtain their devices through stores. Fruit flavours continue to be the most common.
Young people who have never smoked still cite “just to give it a try” as their top motivation for using an e-cigarette (65% of the time).
The top three reasons given by smokers are “I enjoy the experience” (18%), “simply to give it a try” (15%), and “I like the flavours” (21%).
Approximately one in ten current vapers use e-cigarettes to attempt and give up tobacco.
According to Deborah Arnott, CEO of ASH, the disposable vapes that have been increasingly popular over the past year are colourful, portable goods with enticing flavours.
They are inexpensive and easily available, so it is understandable why kids find them appealing.
She claimed that further financing was required to police the rule prohibiting sales to minors and that action on child-friendly packaging, labelling, and social media promotion was also required.
“The growth in e-cigarette use is alarming, and we need to know what factors, such as packaging, accessibility, taste, or addictiveness, are contributing to it.”
Academician Ann McNeill
Online platforms “must act now, without delay,” she emphasised.
“They should stop turning the tap on the torrent of glitzy vape promotion on social media, especially TikTok.”
“The surge in vaping is worrying, and we need to understand what lies behind this such as packaging, accessibility, flavour, or addictiveness,” said Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London and author of an upcoming review of e-cigarette data for the Government.
“Given that smoking poses a significantly greater risk to the health of young people and that there is strong evidence that e-cigarettes can be an efficient aid in quitting, our approach must be proportionate.
However, this must be done while assuring a much speedier drop in young people taking up smoking and assisting more smokers to stop. “Government should ensure existing rules are enforced and identify where regulations should be increased.
The restrictions that social media networks are meant to have in place to stop the promotion of vapes to youngsters are not really enforced.
IBVTA Gillian Golden
According to the study, more 11 to 17-year-olds who have tried vaping (40%) have never smoked than will start smoking (36%) in 2022.
40% of people have tried an e-cigarette but have never smoked a traditional cigarette, up from 30% in 2020.
The Independent British Vape Trade Association’s (IBVTA) CEO, Gillian Golden, stated: “Social media platforms purport to have regulations prohibiting the promotion of vapes to youngsters, but they do little to police them.
“We monitor and report violations to social media networks, with TikTok being the greatest offender, but they rarely take any action.
“Businesses that knowingly sell goods to people under the age of 18 are also more likely to sell goods that are against UK law.
Most importers and retailers don’t sell to youngsters, and they want stricter regulation to make sure others don’t either.
“Teams from Trading Standards are working hard to safeguard children from the sale of tobacco and vapour products to minors.
Trading Standards’ John Herriman”
“At TikTok, nothing is more important than keeping our community safe, especially our youngest members,” a spokesman for the platform stated.
“We firmly prohibit anything that portrays or promotes the sale, trade, or offer of tobacco, including vaping goods, and we will remove any content that is determined to be in violation of our community guidelines, regardless of the age of the user.
In the feeds of TikTok users, “We also do not recommend content that shows or promotes tobacco products.”
Instagram chose not to respond.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute conducted 442 test purchases at stores earlier this year, leading to 145 illegal sales to people under the age of 18.
More funding is required, but, according to John Herriman, CEO of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, “Trading Standards teams are working as hard as they can to safeguard young people from underage sales of both cigarettes and vapes.”
Ref: https://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/20261461.rise-children-vaping-across-britain-influenced-social-media/
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