An analysis of American studies investigated e-cigarette use and the supposed gateway effect among adolescents. The data showed that for this population, the risk of smoking was no greater than living in a household where smoking was present. In addition, e-cigarette use among teens continues to decline.
Professor Sun Ruoyan from Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The head of the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama School of Public Health conducted a meta-analysis of data obtained between 2013 and 2021 on nicotine consumption through cigarette burning and new technologies in the US school population.
The study focused on e-cigarettes as a hypothetical way of smoking in the future. Despite the "teen vaping" scandal, figures show usage continues to decline.
What do American teenagers consume?
Teen cigarette consumption in the United States has been on a steady decline since the early 2000s. In fact, in 2020, 4.6 percent of high school students and 1.6 percent of middle school students reported smoking in the past 30 days.
E-cigarettes, in particular, have become the most popular choice among schoolchildren. In 2019, 27.5 percent of high school students and 10.5 percent of middle school students reported vaping in the past month. E-cigarettes remain the most popular choice in schools, despite a significant decline in consumption rates between 2020 and 2021.
Sun also found a sample of 11,560 young adults who had never smoked in her meta-analysis. About 50 per cent were male, with 12 - to 14-year-olds making up half the sample; The remaining percentage were between 15 and 17 years old. Non-hispanic white youth also made up the majority of this group, at 51.4 percent. In terms of educational level of parents, 26 percent have less than high school education, 28 percent have college education, and 45.2 percent have college education.
74.4% of respondents were grade B or above students (A highest, E lowest), 27.6% lived with relatives who currently used tobacco, 32.2% had friends who used tobacco products, and 26.6% were present for secondhand smoke in the past 7 days. In addition, 26.1 percent of students reported being sensitive to cigarettes, while 11.3 percent had never smoked e-cigarettes, and only 4.3 percent admitted to using e-cigarettes and other tobacco products other than cigarettes. 22.2 percent reported consuming alcohol in the previous 12 months, while 3.4 percent reported using marijuana.
Sun, the researcher, believes that several risk factors enabled him to find a direct correlation between adolescent tobacco consumption and the social morbidity of nearby smokers. He also identified other behavioral risk factors, such as alcohol or marijuana use and susceptibility to cigarette use, that were most strongly associated with future adolescent cigarette use.
conclusion
The results clearly show that while there is a relationship between adolescent e-cigarette consumption and subsequent smoking, the association is insignificant when evaluating other sociodemographic and socioeconomic data, such as susceptibility to cigarette consumption, exposure to smoke, and interactions with tobacco users. The latter is more of a determinant of teen smoking.
After her analysis, Sun also found that nicotine vaporizer and liquid use was much lower than alleged, as the most recent data in the most complete assessment model (wave 4) indicated a reduction of five points, from 4.07% to 1.37%. Similarly, the assessment model showed a decrease in e-cigarette consumption from 5.81 percent to 3 percent in the last 30 days.
Clearly, e-cigarettes are not a route to smoking, as they are more likely to be a product of the socio-cultural environment in which minors are exposed. Factors such as race, family income or social status have a far greater impact on young people, as they impart approval or correct behavior patterns learned from relatives or close friends.
Thus, e-cigarettes can protect the health of young people by avoiding burning nicotine. However, public education policies against substance use must be strong, sustained and effective.