More than one in ten middle and high school children are addicted to vapes or cigarettes, official data suggested today — amid calls to clamp down on the devices.
A total of 3.08million children 11 to 18 years old admitted to using tobacco products within the last month in the annual CDC and FDA-run survey.
Eight in ten said they puffed on vapes, which are already embroiled in controversy over fears they are a gateway to smoking among teens.
Nearly a third also told surveyors they used multiple tobacco products, which the CDC said was ‘particularly concerning’.
This week it was revealed children start using vapes at 13 years old on average — and one in ten users start puffing before breakfast.
Officials warned that tobacco products were a ‘threat’ to children’s health and ‘unsafe’ for them to use.
Previous studies have suggested vapes can stunt brain development in teens and set them on a path of lifetime nicotine addiction.
Tobacco use rates rose 23 per cent among the youngsters compared to last year, but were still below pre-pandemic estimates of 4.45million.
Cigar use rose 31 per cent on last year to 500,000 children, while cigarette use ticked up by seven per cent to 440,000.
White children were most likely to vape, alongside those who were most likely to get F grades or identify as trans or LGBT.
It comes after California voted to outlaw menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes yesterday, with the rule set to come into force next month.
Tobacco use among 11 to 18 year olds has risen by almost a quarter compared to last year, estimates suggest. The CDC warns, however, against the comparison because in 2021 the surveys had to be done from home due to the pandemic. This may have affected the results
The CDC and FDA-led study also found that children who mostly got Fs were most likely to vape or use another tobacco product. A grade students were least likely to
Dr Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, the director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, slammed tobacco manufacturers today.
‘Commercial tobacco product use continues to threaten the health of our nation’s youth, she said, ‘and disparities in youth tobacco product use persist.’
‘By addressing the factors that lead to youth tobacco product use and helping youth to quit, we can give our nation’s young people the best opportunity to live their healthiest lives.’
The annual CDC and FDA-led report is carried out every year.
For the study a nationally-representative sample of 28,000 middle and high school children are questioned on whether they use tobacco.
Answers are analyzed to generate estimates for the whole nation.
Children were surveyed from January to May this year.
Results showed that tobacco use rose across the board compared to 2021.
But researchers warned against a comparison with last year because Covid restrictions meant the survey had to be done at home — which may have affected the results. In all the other years, it was carried out in classrooms.
Compared to 2020 — when the survey was done before Covid struck — tobacco use was down nearly a third from 4.45million.
E-cigarette use was also down by 29 per cent — from 3.58million youngsters —, and cigarette use was down 50 per cent — from 900,000 teens.
Over the last five years tobacco use was highest in 2019, when 6.2million children were estimated to use at least one product in the previous month.
America banned the sale of vapes to children under 18 years old in 2016, and the sale of cigarettes to under-21s in 2019.
But the bans are poorly enforced, allowing minors to still get hold of the tobacco products.
Dr Brian King, director of the FDA’s center for tobacco products, said it was ‘clear we’ve made commendable progress in reducing cigarette smoking among our nation’s youth’.
He added, however: ‘But we must continue to tackle all forms of tobacco product use among youth, including meaningfully addressing the notable disparities that continue to persist.’
The data was published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
It comes after it emerged the average teen vaper starts using e-cigarettes at just 13, according to a major study.
An analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has laid bare the country’s teen e-cigarette epidemic.
The results are based on a fresh analysis of survey data – originally published last month – that involved 150,000 responses from American teens between the age of 12 and 18 from 2014 to 2021.
It suggests vape devices have become the gateway to nicotine addiction, with nearly 80 per cent of users saying their first experience was with e-cigarettes. This figure has stayed consistent since 2019, and began to surge from around 40 per cent in 2016.
One in 10 students who vape reported puffing on the device within five minutes of waking — up ten-fold in just five years — which experts warn is indicative of addiction. Vapers are also using the devices with increasing frequency, with a quarter puffing on them every single day – up from a fifth in a year.
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