Urgent health warning to parents whose kids use social media
PARENTS have been warned their kids are picking up a worrying habit from social media.
The proportion of children vaping is on the rise, and they say the main influence is sites such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
According to a new report, shared exclusively with the PA news agency, disposable e-cigarettes are increasing in popularity.
The new generation of vapes known as “puff bars” – which contain nicotine – cost around £5 each and come in a wide range of fruity flavours.
The most popular brands are Elf Bar and Geek Bar, according to surveying carried out for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and part-funded by the Department of Health.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said: “The disposable vapes that have surged in popularity over the last year are brightly coloured, pocket-size products with sweet flavours and sweet names.
Read more on vaping
“They are widely available for under a fiver – no wonder they’re attractive to children.”
Some 2,613 children aged 11 to 17 years old across Great Britain took part in the survey.
The proportion of children currently vaping has jumped from four per cent in 2020 to seven per cent in 2022.
For those aged 16 and 17, the figures jumped from seven per cent in 2013 to 29 per cent in 2022. For those aged 18, it went from nine per cent to 41 per cent.
Most read in Health
More than half (52 per cent) of youngsters who vaped said disposable e-cigarettes were their favoured product – a dramatic rise on the seven per cent who said the same thing in 2020.
While it is illegal to sell vapes to under-18s, social media carries posts from teenagers showing the new vapes and discussing the flavours.
They include pink lemonade, strawberry banana and mango.
Over half (56 per cent) of 11 to 17-year-olds were aware of e-cigarette promotion, and TikTok was mentioned most often as the source (cited by 45 per cent of children).
Instagram was also cited by almost a third of kids (31 per cent), and Snapchat 22 per cent.
Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), said: “Social media platforms supposedly have policies to prevent promotion of vapes to children, but they do little to enforce them.
“We monitor and report infringements to social media platforms, but they rarely take any action, with TikTok being the worst offender.”
When it comes to why youngsters vape, ‘just to give it a try’ is still the most common reason.
ASH called for more action to prevent underage kids buying vapes, and said packaging needed to be less enticing.
Ms Arnott said: “Online platforms don’t need to wait, they must act now.
“The flood of glamorous promotion of vaping on social media, in particular TikTok, is completely inappropriate and they should turn off the tap.”
Nicotine is highly addictive and studies show it can harm adolescent brain development, the CDC warns.
The compound can also increase blood pressure and heart rate and narrow arteries in adults.
But as an alternative to smoking, e-cigarettes are recommended by the NHS because they don't contain toxic tobacco.
Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London and author of a forthcoming review of e-cigarette evidence for the Government, said “the rise in vaping is concerning”.
But she added: “Our response must be proportionate given smoking is a much bigger risk to the health of young people and good evidence that e-cigarettes can be an effective stop smoking aid.”
The report’s data suggest kids are now more likely to have tried a vape than a cigarette.
A spokeswoman for TikTok said: “At TikTok, nothing is more important than keeping our community safe, especially our youngest users.
“Regardless of a user’s age, we strictly prohibit content that depicts or promotes the sale, trade or offer of tobacco, including vaping products, and we will remove any content found to be violating our community guidelines.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
“We also do not recommend content that shows or promotes tobacco products in TikTok users’ feeds.”
Instagram declined to comment.