More middle school students are vaping, says new study

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WASHINGTON, Nov 4, (Agencies): More high school students appear to be ditching their vapes this year — unfortunately, a younger age group isn’t following suit. 

This week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new study supporting their claims that while high school students appear to be kicking that habit, the same cannot be said for younger students in middle school. 

E-cigarette and other forms of tobacco use among high school students declined from 14.1 percent to 10.0 percent from 2022 to 2023, the CDC’s latest report found. 

In terms of actual numbers, the CDC added, “Current use of any tobacco product by high school students declined by an estimated 540,000 students, from 2.51 million in 2022 to 1.97 million in 2023.” 

“It’s encouraging to see this substantial decline in e-cigarette use among high schoolers within the past year, which is a win for public health,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said.

For middle schoolers, their current overall tobacco product use rose to 6.6% from 4.5%, but no significant changes in e-cigarette use alone. 

Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health said, “The decline in e-cigarette use among high school students shows great progress, but our work is far from over.”

Kittner continued, “Findings from this report underscore the threat that commercial tobacco product use poses to the health of our nation’s youth.” The organization analyzed research from the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey on the prevalence of ever use and current use of nine tobacco product types, flavored tobacco products, and e-cigarettes among the two groups. 

Popular brands that topped the list for disposable and cartridge products included Elf Bars, Esco Bars, Vuse, JUUL, and Mr. Fog. 

The CDC states that disposable e-cigarettes’ popularity can be attributed to the fact that they are “relatively inexpensive, have a high nicotine content, and are available in flavors appealing to youths.”

“The FDA remains concerned about youth tobacco product use, and we cannot and will not let our guard down on this issue,” King continued. “The agency has an array of enforcement tools at our disposal, and we’re committed to using them as appropriate.”

In their report, the CDC said that in order to reduce tobacco use among youths further, they will enforce proven tobacco prevention policies, such as raising the prices of their products and continuing with counter-marketing campaigns.

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