19 Nov Use of Tobacco Products Remains High Among US Youth

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Brian King, Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Advisor with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health.

MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Dr. King: This study presents data from the 2013 National Youth Tobacco Survey, an annual school-based survey of U.S. middle and high school students in grades 6 through 12. The data show that more than 1 in 5 high school students and more than 1 in 20 middle school students have used a tobacco product in the past 30 days; and nearly half of high school students and almost 1 in 5 middle school students have used a tobacco product at least once in their life. Nine of ten high school tobacco users used a combustible tobacco product such as a cigarette, cigar, hookah, pipe, bidi, or kretek; there was lower use of only noncombustible tobacco products or only electronic cigarettes among both current and ever tobacco users.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. King: Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States and most adult tobacco users first started using these products before the age of 18. Given that the U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that nicotine use can have adverse effects on adolescent brain development, nicotine use by youth in any form – combusted, smokeless, or electronic – is unsafe. Therefore clinicians can encourage their patients to quit using all forms of tobacco products. Additionally, patients should avoid the use of these products and prohibit the use of all forms of tobacco use in their homes and vehicles, particularly when youth are present.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. King: Although declines in the use of cigarettes have been observed in recent years, the use of other forms of tobacco among youth have stayed the same or increased. Therefore, these findings indicate that continued efforts are needed to monitor and prevent the use of all forms of tobacco products – including combusted, smokeless, and electronic – among youth.

Citation: MMWR Weekly:

Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2013

November 14, 2014 / 63(45);1021-102

Last Updated on November 19, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD