Almost 1/4 of young people say they have used electronic cigarettes – 06/29/2023 – Health

Nearly a quarter of young Brazilians aged between 18 and 24 say they have tried electronic cigarettes, a 20% increase in one year. It is the highest prevalence among all age groups.

Data are from Covitel, a national telephone survey that spoke to 9,000 Brazilians about health issues and healthy habits.

According to the survey, almost 24% of the young people interviewed reported that they have already tried electronic cigarettes, use them daily or use the product every day. In 2022, they were 19.7% of young people.

For the entire Brazilian population, which includes the age group between 18 and 24 years, the prevalence was 8%, a total of 4 million people.

The proportion of young people using electronic cigarettes is similar to hookah. While 22% of young people claim to have had at least one experience with this type of equipment, the rate is 8% of the entire population consulted in the survey.

For conventional types of smoking, such as cigarettes and cigars, the percentage was slightly lower in young people. According to Covitel, about 9% of them said they use or have used this type of product. For the entire population interviewed, the rate was 11%.

The survey shows that 43% of people who have tried electronic cigarettes purchased the product in stores, kiosks and bars (43%). Another 30% bought online.

The study also raised data on alcohol consumption. The main incidence among young people was seen in the abusive level of alcoholic beverages, characterized as the ingestion of four doses in the same occasion for women or five doses in the case of men. In all, 34% of those aged 18 to 24 reported using alcohol in this way. In the population as a whole, without stratifying by age, the prevalence was 24%.

The use of electronic cigarettes, especially among younger people, is not unknown to specialists, although it was the first time that a national survey, representative of the entire country, measured this use.

“We already saw this on the streets, in bars and knew that things were booming, but it was Covitel that identified how serious this is at the moment”, says Pedro Hallal, professor at UFPel (Federal University of Pelotas) and one of the coordinators of the study.

According to him, unlike other risk factors for chronic diseases that were high associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the increase in the use of electronic cigarettes among young people is not related to the health crisis.

“Smoking had been on a very sustainable decline curve for decades. With the difficulty for the industry to break into new markets, they needed to create something new. And they did. This account is not the pandemic, it is the tobacco industry.”

Jaqueline Scholz, director of the smoking cessation program at InCor (Institute of the Heart) and who did not participate in Covitel, says that producing companies direct this equipment to younger age groups. “The product was made for them.”

Even if these smoking devices are consumed in Brazil, this should not happen due to lack of authorization. Anvisa (Health Surveillance Agency) produced a June 2022 report in which it analyzes various evidence of the use of electronic cigarettes. Before him, the institution chose to maintain the ban.

Tobacco industry companies usually claim that the lack of regulation of electronic cigarettes in Brazil does not inhibit the consumption of these products and exposes the population to illegal goods. They also cite countries that have adopted equipment as public health strategies in an attempt to reduce the risks associated with other tobacco articles, such as conventional cigarettes.

Some of the evidence contained in the Anvisa report indicates that electronic cigarettes can be addictive, as is the case with common tobacco products. Cancers, cardiovascular complications and lung inflammation associated with electronic cigarettes, called Evali, were also problems related to the use of this product.

On the other hand, there is a point that, in smokers, these devices could replace the conventional cigarette and reduce harm. The logic is used by the NHS, which corresponds to the SUS in the United Kingdom, which uses electronic models as one of the possibilities for those who wish to stop smoking traditional cigarettes. The service, however, warns that electronic cigarettes are not risk-free.

The European country also conducts data revisions for some years on the use of electronic cigarettes. In the most recent edition, from 2022, the report points out that there is evidence that the electronic model causes a drop in the use of traditional cigarettes among those who already smoked.

But the topic is up for debate. A study by researchers from Inca (National Cancer Institute) analyzed 22 previously published articles and concluded that “electronic cigarettes increased the risk of trying conventional cigarettes by almost three and a half times”

Scholz also doesn’t see the product as a form of harm reduction. “If anyone wants to reduce harm, it’s to stop smoking”, he summarizes.

Alessandra Diehl, president of Abead (Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs), also reiterates the known risks posed by the product. For her, it is necessary that inspection improves so that the prohibition of these products is valid in the country. “The greater access to a given substance, the greater the consumption”, says Diehl, who signed the Covitel survey.

She also comments that the use of hookah poses risks to users. In addition to causing health problems as cigarettes already do, hookah is usually shared between several people. Therefore, the transmission of diseases through the mouth can occur between people who share the same equipment.