A study A report released Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 2.55 million middle and high school students reported current (past 30 days) use of e-cigarettes.
The research found that nearly 85 percent of those youth used flavored e-cigarettes and more than half used disposable e-cigarettes, of which 14.5 percent reported that their usual brand was Puff Bar, followed by Vuse (12.5 percent), Hyde (5.5 percent) and SMOK (4.0 percent).
The findings, published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, are based on data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a cross-sectional, self-administered U.S. survey of students conducted from January 18 to May 31, 2022.
"This study shows that our nation's youth continue to be attracted and hooked by an ever-expanding variety of e-cigarette brands that offer flavored nicotine," said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.
“Our work is far from over. It is critical that we work together to prevent young people from starting to use any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, and to help all young people who use them to quit,” she reiterated.
Other key findings from the e-cigarette research
In terms of frequency of use, the study found that among young people who currently used e-cigarettes, more than one in four (27.6 percent) used them daily and more than four in 10 (42.3 percent) used them on 20 or more days of the past 30 days.
Among youth who currently used e-cigarettes, the most commonly used type of device was disposable (55.3 percent), followed by pre-filled or refillable pods or cartridges (25.2 percent) and tanks or mod systems (6.7 percent). Additionally, 12.8 percent reported not knowing the type of device used.
Similarly, among youth who used e-cigarettes, 84.9 percent used flavored devices—that is, devices with flavors other than tobacco—including 85.5 percent of high school students and 81.5 percent of middle school students who reported using them. Overall, the most commonly used flavors were fruit (69.1 percent); candy, dessert, or other sweets (38.3 percent); mint (29.4 percent); and menthol (26.6 percent).
“Teen e-cigarette use in the U.S. remains at concerning levels and poses a serious public health risk to our nation’s youth,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
“Together with CDC, protecting our nation’s youth from the dangers of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, remains a top priority for the FDA, and we are committed to combating this problem with the full breadth of our regulatory authorities,” he added.
Because of changes in methodology, the report explains, including differences in survey administration and data collection procedures in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to compare 2022 estimates with previous ones is limited.
However, she says that youth use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, is not safe because they contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can damage the developing adolescent brain. Nicotine use during adolescence may also increase the risk of future addiction to other drugs.
Since 2014, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among American youth. So as the tobacco product landscape continues to change, sustained implementation of comprehensive tobacco prevention and control strategies at the national, state, and local levels, along with FDA regulations, is critical to preventing and reducing youth access to and use of e-cigarettes.
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