According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine which can harm a child’s brain development. Jen Reed, MD, a pediatric hospitalist explains the impact vaping and e-cigarettes can have on a child.
What is vaping?
Vaping and e-cigarettes started almost 10 years ago. There’s liquid substances you can put in devices, and the devices have changed a lot. At first they looked like a little plastic cigarette. Now they can be anything that looks like a pen to a USB drive so they can be pretty easy to hide. They have different liquids in them that can have nicotine or cannabis. There’s different companies that make them, they can be refillable or something you can use once and dispose of but they’ve become quite popular in different flavors and colors.
How can vaping be harmful to kids or teens?
They can be harmful to anybody, but especially young, maturing minds when we think about nicotine and cannabis being the two major components of drug exposure in them that can be harmful which I think most people are aware of. They have a higher concentration of what a cigarette would and so from one vaping device it would be more than a normal cigarette. In 2016 to 2019 we were seeing injuries that are throughout their whole lungs and it cannot be from long-term use but actually a chemical reaction is the thought, but is causing some long-term problems for kids that have required hospitalization and then afterward when they looked at how well their lungs worked, their lungs weren’t working properly anymore even after they’re outside that initial sickness.
How popular is vaping?
Studies will estimate around 1 in 20 of kids in middle school are currently using and 1 in 5 of those in high school are using, so it is pretty prominent among kids and pretty easy for them to pass around and share and not know what exactly is in them since there are different ones.
What can parents do if they are concerned their child is vaping or using e-cigarettes?
I think the biggest thing is talk to your kids, making sure they know what it is, that they’re aware of it and they can come talk to you. There was one survey that asked high school kids what vaping is and 505 thought it was flavored water. So I think starting those conversations early, maybe before they are exposed to it, grade school or middle school, and having those conversations frequently.
