U.S. Youth Vaping Drops to Lowest Level in a Decade

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Just 5.9% of American middle and high school students now vape, a big drop from the 7.7% who did so a year ago, new government data shows.

Put another way, about 1.6 million youth now say they used e-cigarettes at least once over the past month, compared to 2.1 million in 2023.

Among those who say they vape, 23.6% said they do it on a daily basis.

It was high school kids who drove the change, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), with middle schoolers still vaping at rates roughly similar to a year ago.

Still, any reduction in vaping is welcome, said Brian King, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products.

The NYTS survey is taken each year and involves U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students. This year, kids were surveyed between late January and late May.

After decades of steady declines in cigarette smoking among youth, health experts have been disheartened by the quick rise of nicotine-laden vaping instead.

However, rates have begun to fall, and now that number is only a third of the 2019 tally.

The vast majority of youth who vape use flavored e-cigarettes (87.6%), with fruit (62.8%), candy (33.3%), and mint (25.1%) as the top flavors of choice.

The most popular brands in 2024 are Elf Bar (36.1%), Breeze (19.9%), Mr. Fog (15.8%), Vuse (13.7%) and JUUL (12.6%).

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/us-youth-vaping-drops-to-lowest-level-in-a-decade