Notes from the Field: E-Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021
On September 30, 2021, CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are releasing the following tobacco-related article in the journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Youth e-cigarette use remains a serious public health concern amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 2 million U.S. middle and high school students currently using e-cigarettes in 2021, and almost 85% of those youth using flavored e-cigarettes. Disposable e-cigarettes were the most commonly used e-cigarette device type among youth in 2021.
This study used data from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) to assess e-cigarette use behaviors among U.S. middle and high school students. The 2021 NYTS was conducted using an online survey to allow for participation by eligible students in remote learning settings; thus, results cannot be compared to previous NYTS findings primarily collected on school campuses. The study found that more than 2 million youth currently used (in the past 30 days) e-cigarettes in 2021, including more than 8 in 10 of those youth using flavored e-cigarettes. These data indicate that youth e-cigarette use remains a public health concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the tobacco product landscape continues to evolve, sustained implementation of comprehensive tobacco control and prevention strategies at the national, state, and local levels, coupled with FDA regulation, can prevent and reduce tobacco production initiation and use among youth.
The article will be available here:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7039a4.htm?s_cid=mm7039a4_w