Choose life, not vapes: empowering teens to make healthier choices – a cross sectional study

Abstract

Objectives The tobacco epidemic is more than just a health concern. It is a socioeconomic one with far-reaching effects. Smoking being the most common mode of tobacco use worldwide, has an impact on human life and well-being. Hence, this study aimed to seek the knowledge and awareness of adolescents about e-cigarettes and spread awareness about the harmful effects of vapig so as to reduce the ongoing rise in cigarette consumption among these individuals. Methods A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 100 teenage children of urban schools in Delhi NCR of age group 14–17 years which collected information on teenage vaping practices, views about vaping, and their accessibility to vaping items. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Program for Social Sciences – SPSS version 25 through frequency and percent, graphs, Bar chart and Chi-squared test. Results A total 100 participants took part in the survey out of which of 59 were males and 41 were females. A significant proportion of the participants (94 %) possessed knowledge of e-cigarettes, and 14 % had actually used them at some point. Most of the participants were aware of the disposable variety of e-cigarettes and most of them thought that e-cigarettes were less addictive. Conclusions A significant portion of educated young adults who have never vaped are susceptible to using e-cigarettes in the future. It is also discovered that e-cigarettes are still available and being promoted in spite of the restrictions. In addition to good health education for minors, more stringent enforcement of current rules and monitoring could help prevent larger uptake in the future.