Promoting e-cigarettes to stop adults smoking is encouraging young people to vape, researchers claim
Young people who recalled seeing e-cigarettes in small shops were more likely to have used the products in the past
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Promotion of e-cigarettes needs to be considered “carefully”, experts have said after finding that if teenagers notice the products in shops it may influence whether or not they use them.
Officials must consider the balance between promoting e-cigarettes to adult smokers to help them quit and minimising their uptake by teens, they said.
Researchers from the University of Stirling studied almost 4,000 Scottish teens to examine whether there was a relationship between adolescents' recollection of e-cigarette displays at point of sale (POS) and their past use and intended use of the products.
Their study, published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that teens who had recalled seeing e-cigarettes for sale in small shops or supermarkets were more likely to intend to try them in the next six months than those who did not remember.
And young people who recalled seeing e-cigarettes in small shops were more likely to have used the products in the past.
“Given that our study found an association between POS exposure to e-cigarettes and both their use and intention to use in young people, policymakers in the EU and elsewhere need to consider very carefully how to balance the promotion of e-cigarettes to adult smokers as an aid to help them quit, while at the same time minimising their uptake by young people,” corresponding author Catherine Best said.
Commenting on the study, Paul Aveyard, professor of behavioural medicine at the University of Oxford, said: “The authors found that young people who recalled e-cigarette advertising were more likely to intend to use e-cigarettes in the future and suggest this could be because the advertising prompts them to intend to do so.
”However, an obvious explanation is that people with no interest in smoking or e-cigarettes will tend not to notice them on display, whereas those who do will notice them.
“We look at what we are interested in and this is the most likely explanation of the study's findings.”
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments