- 46% of students smoke e-cigarettes for their ‘fun factor’, experts found
- Teens who smoked cigarettes were 12 times more likely to use the devices
- E-cigarettes are usually used as a method to help people stop smoking
- But the devices aren’t being used for their intended reasons in teenagers
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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Nearly 48 per cent of students who smoke e-cigarettes are attracted to them for their ‘fun factor, experts found (stock picture)
Teenagers may only be smoking e-cigarettes because it’s ‘cool’, a new study suggests.
Despite being mainly used by adults to help them quit smoking, students aren’t using the devices for their intended reason.
Nearly 48 per cent of students who use the devices are attracted to them for their ‘fun factor’, experts found.
And those who smoked regular cigarettes were 12 times more likely to use the electrical gadgets.
Scientists from SickKids Hospital, Toronto, wanted to understand why teenagers were using e-cigarettes more and studied nearly 2,400 children aged between 14 and 15.
Previous studies have found increasing rates of e-cigarette use in adolescents who are exposed to tobacco.
E-cigarette use was more common in males who were already using cigarettes and other tobacco products or if their family and friends smoked.
More than 10 per cent of teenagers had used e-cigarettes, but not to help them quit smoking.
They also found youths with poor health, high stress levels and low household incomes were the highest users of the devices.
Dr Michael Khoury, from SickKids Hospital, said: ‘While e-cigarettes are frequently used as devices for smoking cessation in adults, we found most students in our survey were motivated by the “cool/fun/something new” features of e-cigarettes.
‘Use of e-cigarettes was [also] associated with lower self-identified health level, greater stress level and a lower estimated household income, which suggests that e-cigarette use may have some key associations that may help to identify adolescents at risk.’
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However, the researchers say their findings are not necessarily generalisable because their study was limited to one area.
And they are calling for the continuation of strict regulations to help reduce the use of e-cigarettes among younger people.
This comes after a recent study found e-cigarettes will stop more teenagers from dying from cancer and lung problems, even if they do encourage some to take up smoking.
The devices are likely to reduce smoking-related deaths in the US by more than a fifth since their introduction, according to a mathematical model.
Researchers found youths with poor health and low household incomes were the highest users of e-cigarettes
Since e-cigarettes went on sale in 1997, they have reduced smoking-related deaths in the US by more than a fifth in those born after their introduction, researchers said.
While the numbers of teenagers now vaping has increased, the numbers smoking deadly tobacco has fallen.
Without the new devices, more teenagers and young adults would have smoked instead, the experts said.
Other research has suggested that e-cigarettes are a gateway for young people to smoke regular cigarettes, to drink alcohol and try psychoactive substances.
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