Recent data from the National Health Service in England shows a decrease in the number of schoolchildren currently smoking traditional cigarettes, but an increase in vaping, with 9% of 11-15 year olds currently using e-cigarettes compared to 6% in 2018[1].
The 2021 Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England report presents the results of a survey of 9,289 secondary school pupils, mostly aged 11 to 15, between September 2021 and February 2022, in 119 schools. This survey focused on the smoking, alcohol and other drug consumption of the young people questioned.
A smoking prevalence of 3% among college students, a record
One of the measures in the Tobacco Control Plan to achieve a tobacco-free generation in England was to reduce the number of 15-year-olds who smoke regularly from 8% to 3% or less from 2017 to 2022. Target achieved as the report indicates that the proportion of students reporting being occasional or regular smokers decreased from 5% in 2018 to 3% in 2021 – a record high.
In 2021, 12% of students aged 11-15 had already smoked at least once in their life, compared to 16% of students in 2018, the lowest level ever recorded by this survey. A rate that has been steadily declining since 1996, when 49% of students of this age had smoked at least once.
E-cigarette consumption on the rise, especially among teenage girls
The proportion of students currently using electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, increased from 6% in 2018 to 9% in 2021. More than one in five students (22%) declared having already consumed cigarettes at least once electronics, compared to 25% in 2018.
Current e-cigarette use increases with age, rising from 1% among 11-year-olds to 11% among 14-year-olds and reaching 18% among 15-year-olds. According to the study, more than a fifth (21%) of 15-year-old girls are considered current users of electronic cigarettes, up from 10% in 2021. This proportion is higher than that of boys of the same age: 14%.
The proportion of vape smokers among these adolescents more than doubled between 2018 and 2021, rising from 29% to 61%.
Although it has been banned since 2015 to sell electronic cigarettes to minors under the age of 18 in England, 57% of them said they might easily obtain them in shops (newsagents, specialist shop or supermarket) . The most common reasons given by students for why they think young people their age smoke/vape are: “to look cool in front of friends” (81%), because they are “addicted smoking” (73%) and “their friends encourage them to smoke” (72%).
Consumption exacerbated by the influence of the close environment and peers
Almost all current middle school smokers had a friend who smoked, compared with regarding a third of non-smokers. Current smokers were also more likely to have a family member who smoked (72%) than non-smokers (58%).
Only 3% of current smokers said they don’t know anyone who smokes, compared to 30% of non-smokers. The proportion of students who smoke also increases with the number of smokers in the household. 16% of students who lived with three or more smokers were current smokers themselves, compared to 9% who lived with two smokers and only 1% in households with no other smokers.
Keywords: England, NHS, teenagers, smoking, vaping, e-cigarette
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[1] Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England2021, NHS Report, published September 6, 2022, accessed September 7, 2022
National Anti-Smoking Committee |