Number of teenagers who smoke hits record low, survey finds

Teenagers are less likely to smoke cigarettes than previous generations with the number falling to its lowest rate on record, according to new figures.

NHS Digital questioned more than 13,000 pupils aged 11 to 15 across nearly 200 schools in England about their smoking, drinking and drug habits for a biennial poll.

The figures showed that just 16 per cent of participants said they had smoked a cigarette in their lifetime, down from 19 per cent in 2016 and 49 per cent in 1996.

However, one quarter of pupils (25 per cent) admitted to having used an e-cigarette at least once, the same as in 2016.

Researchers stated that pupils who had smoked cigarettes were more likely to also have vaped than those who had not.

Rosanna O’Connor, director of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and justice at Public Health England said the results prove that e-cigarettes are not causing more young people to smoke.

“As you would expect, some young people experiment but regular vaping among those who have never smoked is very rare,” O’Connor said.

“Youth smoking rates are continuing to decline at an encouraging rate.”

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health agreed, adding: “The proportion trying e-cigarettes has not increased and vaping remains largely concentrated among those who are already smokers.

"This provides reassurance that our regulations are working and vaping has not become the ‘super-cool’ phenomenon among young people in England that it is said to be in the USA."

While the survey showed that cigarette use has continued to decline among young people, it also revealed that drug use has remained high, with one quarter (23.7 per cent) of 11 to 15-year-olds admitting they had taken drugs in their lifetime.

In 2014 this figure stood at 14.6 per cent before increasing to 24.3 per cent in 2016.

NHS Direct said this sharp rise could be attributed to respondents not answering questions on whether they had tried individual drugs but that “some level of genuine increase [was] evident”. Nine per cent of all pupils said that they had taken drugs in the past month.

Furthermore, the proportion of young people who said they had ever consumed alcohol also remained the same as in 2016 at 44 per cent.

Relatively few 11-year-olds reported having a drink (14 per cent), but this number increased to 70 per cent among 15-year-olds.

Pupils who said they had drunk alcohol in the last four weeks were most likely to have been given it by their parents or guardians, the survey found.

The survey also highlighted a link between children who have recently drunk, smoked cigarettes or taken drugs and low levels of happiness.

Half of participants (51 per cent) who had recently engaged in any of the habits said they had experienced low mood, compared with 22 per cent who said they had not done any of those things.

The pattern was repeated when pupils were asked about levels of life satisfaction, with the greater the number of substances tried, the lower the level of life satisfaction reported.