Since the legalisation of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes in 2018, the prevalence of vaping has climbed considerably in Canada, with 15 to 24 year olds experiencing the highest rates. Making sure that young people are aware of the health hazards associated with vaping may help motivate them to avoid it.
More than one-third of youths between the ages of 15 and 19 have tried vaping, according to recent Statistics Canada statistics, and 15% report having done so within the past 30 days. Approximately 80% of people who reported vaping in the past 30 days had used nicotine in their devices.
One in ten users reported trying vaping without knowing whether the product included nicotine, which is unfortunate because youth may underestimate the amount of nicotine in the vaping goods they use.
There is proof that youth vaping may serve as a “gateway behaviour” for youth cigarette use, another nicotine-containing smoking habit. By extension, we might be witnessing a new generation of smokers who will probably have severe health issues.
Health dangers
Vaping carries some health hazards. According to certain research, it might cause pneumonia or severe lung damage. Numerous vaping products are created with fruit-flavored aerosols in both Canada and the United States, which has some advocates worried about how these products are marketed and their potential appeal to youth.
In response, Health Canada and advocates have urged for additional steps to be taken in addition to warning labels on e-cigarette products. These additional steps include finding strategies to reduce juvenile access to these products, especially when it comes to internet sales, which can be challenging for teenagers to control.
Our research, which comes from behavioural medicine specialists with experience in health behaviour change, offers suggestions for how to encourage university students to abstain from vaping. It is a good idea to inform people about the health risks associated with vaping by using professional counsel and firsthand accounts. This is significant because it illustrates how information can be conveyed to have a significant influence on how young adults perceive the risks associated with vaping.
We conducted a 45-day study in January 2021 with undergraduate students from six provinces who all regularly vaped e-cigarettes. Most people vape between five and fifteen times per month.
Our objective was to determine if young adults might abstain from vaping using a movie that provided information on the potential health dangers of vaping as presented by medical professionals and other e-cigarette users. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups; the informational film on vaping group saw it, while the control group watched a more general movie on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle that did not go into great detail into the health impacts of vaping.
Information about health risks and vaping
We monitored the kids for 45 days to observe how their attitudes about vaping evolved. We discovered that individuals who watched the educational film were more likely to declare their intentions to give up or cut back on vaping.
Throughout the course of the study, including the three follow-up sessions where participants were asked to report their views regarding the perceived gravity of the risks associated with vaping and their susceptibility to those risks, such feelings persisted strongly.
The study shown that after being made aware of the potential repercussions in this manner, vaping intentions—and, to a lesser extent, actual vaping behavior—can be decreased. After learning about potential health impacts, the students’ intentions considerably changed, while the control group’s intentions to cut back on vaping were not present. It is essential to place a focus on intention formulation since it motivates other important acts (such goal-setting and motivation) towards bringing about the desired change.
Overall, vaping use decreased in all groups throughout the research, although the intervention group’s decline was more pronounced, especially near the conclusion. This intervention does highlight a beneficial approach to helping young people who are engaging in negative habits.
Next, what?
The major objective continues to be reducing vaping. More research is required to determine how to turn regular university vapers’ intentions to smoke less into persuading conduct changes, even though health risk information can influence these intentions. We urge people to educate themselves about the potential risks of these practises for the time being in order to reduce dangerous behaviours like vaping.
There is increasing proof that using e-cigarettes has health hazards. There is, however, scant research demonstrating the health advantages of quitting vaping. In order to fill this knowledge gap, research is required.
It may take several decades to fully comprehend the harm caused by using vaping goods and how lowering one’s use may affect one’s health, similar to how tobacco and cigarettes in the past. According to recent research, using e-cigarettes may develop many long-term health hazards with sustained use, similar to combustible cigarette usage.
Research finding efficient health behaviour change techniques to reduce vaping intentions and usage is essential since the body of literature on the short-term health effects of vaping behaviour keeps growing and the vaping business keeps expanding.
In order to help dispel the “smoke” surrounding the real health impacts and hazards of vaping and encourage people to steer clear, we envisage provincial and federal health agencies using evidence-based interventions like our study in settings like schools, clinics, and community centres.
If the issues outlined in this article are affecting you, please do not hesitate to contact us, and we will do what we can to help you with your situation.