Youth vaping becoming a crisis

Scientists warn of a health disaster as high numbers of schoolchildren and university students turn to vaping, despite the dangers

- Lyse Comins

South Africa faces an epidemic of children addicted to vaping, a problem that has mushroomed in a vacuum of legislation controlling who has access to the products, which are marketed as a “safe” and “cool” lifestyle trend.

The reality of this nascent epidemic has been highlighted for the first time in the largest study of its kind by researchers at the University of Cape Town and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, which surveyed 26 000 learners in 54 schools across eight provinces — North West schools did not give permission during 2023.

The study, recently published in The Lancet’s eClinical Medicine journal, used the responses of 25 149 grade eight to 12 learners and found 16.83% admitted to currently vaping.

Approximately 36% of learners in the sample reported that they had tried vaping, 2% said they had used tobacco cigarettes and the use of cannabis and hookah pipes was reported by 5% and 3% of respondents, respectively.

Nationally, rates of vaping ranged from 4% to 31% by school and increased with each grade.

Current use was reported by 8.47% of grade eight pupils, 13.32% of grade nines and 17.28% of grade 10 learners. Use rose to 21.51% in grade 11 and peaked at 29.51% among grade 12 learners.

Researchers also investigated signs of addiction and found that 47% of teen vapers use their device within an hour of waking up — a strong indicator of dependence — and 11.8% said they could not get through the school day without vaping.

Eighty-eight percent reported using products containing nicotine and 24.9% admitted feeling anxious or angry if they were unable to vape for a prolonged period.

Some 38.3% said they vaped daily and more than 50% vaped more than four days per week.

The rapid rise in vaping among adolescents is a new public health challenge, co-author of the study, Samantha Filby of UCT’s research unit on the economics of excisable products, said.