Vaping Rates Hit Record Lows for U.S. High School Students

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

Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens?

The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024.

Vaping rates fell from 10% of high school students in 2023 to 7.8% this year, “reaching the lowest level ever measured” by the National Youth Tobacco Survey, reported a team of researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Reaching a 25-year low for youth tobacco product use is an extraordinary milestone for public health. However, with more than 2 million youth using tobacco products and certain groups not experiencing declines in use, our mission is far from complete,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a news release announcing the new data.

Rates of use of traditional cigarettes are also extremely low: Only 1.4% of middle- and high-school kids now smoke, the report found.

The only bit of bad news: A relatively new tobacco product on the scene, nicotine-laden tobacco pouches, which people place between the cheek and gum, are showing upticks in popularity among teens.

Pouches now rank as the second most popular tobacco product, with 2.4% of high school students using them regularly.

The findings were published in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/vaping-rates-hit-record-lows-for-us-high-school-students