Key Summary
- The intergenerational study claims that the likelihood of UK teens who vape starting to smoke was around 33 percent
- The findings suggest that this trend could undermine the falling rates of teen smoking over the past 50 years.
Nearly a third of UK teens who currently vape are likely to take up smoking, and this is comparable to their peers in the 1970s, says a study published in the journal UK teens Control.
The intergenerational study claims that the likelihood of teens who do not vape starting to smoke was around 1.5 percent, but 33 percent among those who do.
The findings suggest that this trend could undermine the falling rates of teen smoking over the past 50 years.
The study looked at teenagers in 2018, and it is likely that the prevalence of vaping in this age group may have increased now.
The researchers said the rising popularity of vaping was 'concerning' "despite some initial assurances that e-cigarettes would have little appeal to [them].”
The intergenerational data from three nationally representative birth cohorts of UK teens born in 1958, 1970 and 2001.
The overall likelihood of cigarette smoking for an average teen (aged 16 or 17) was calculated as 30 percent for those born in 1958, 22 percent for those born in 1970, and 9.5 percent for those born in 2001.
The researchers suggested the decline in the prevalence of teen smoking was the result of tobacco control laws, better public understanding of the health impacts of smoking and a shift away from the perception of smoking as socially acceptable.
The other behaviours that contributed to the risk of smoking, like teen drinking and parental smoking, have declined over the years, and the average age at which mothers left education has gone up.
