7 out of 10 Youth Smokers Start with 'Flavored Cigarettes'... "Need for Stronger Regulation"

KDCA Releases 'Youth Health Panel Survey' Statistics
'New' Drinking Experience at 16% Upon Entering Middle School Grade 1
High School Grade 1 at 31%, Fast Food Consumption 3+ Times Weekly

A survey found that 7 out of 10 smoking adolescents start with flavored cigarettes containing mint, fruit, and other flavors when they first try smoking. The most common time for first alcohol experience was when students advanced to middle school.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released statistics on the 1st to 5th rounds of the "Youth Health Panel Survey" conducted from 2019 to last year on students from 6th grade in elementary school to 1st grade in high school on the 30th. The survey established a health panel of 5,051 6th-grade elementary students nationwide in 2019 and has been tracking them for 10 years until 2028 to monitor changes in health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and eating habits.

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The survey results showed that as grade level increased, the proportion of students who had tried smoking and those who had tried new types of tobacco products such as liquid-type e-cigarettes also increased. The rates of having ever smoked were 0.35% in 6th grade elementary school (2019), 0.56% in 1st grade middle school (2020), 2.01% in 2nd grade middle school (2021), 3.93% in 3rd grade middle school (2022), and 6.83% in 1st grade high school (2023), showing an increase with higher grade levels.

The experience of using new tobacco products also increased with grade level, with the largest increase in liquid-type and heated tobacco products occurring when students advanced from 3rd grade middle school to 1st grade high school. During this period, the experience rate of liquid-type e-cigarettes rose from 1.49% to 2.60%, heated tobacco products from 0.60% to 1.56%, and conventional cigarettes from 2.32% to 2.87%.

It was also confirmed that smoking adolescents tend to use conventional cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and liquid-type e-cigarettes simultaneously. In particular, the overlap rate among adolescents smoking heated tobacco products reached 98.5%. Among them, 63.5% used all three types?liquid-type e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and conventional cigarettes?while 35.0% used two types including conventional cigarettes.

Among adolescents who started smoking, 69.5% began with flavored cigarettes. By product type, the use of flavored cigarettes at smoking initiation was 84.8% for liquid-type e-cigarettes, 71.5% for heated tobacco products, and 62.9% for conventional cigarettes. Additionally, among adolescents who started with liquid-type e-cigarettes, 60.3% currently mainly use conventional cigarettes.

The KDCA pointed out, "More than 60% of students who started smoking with liquid-type e-cigarettes currently use conventional cigarettes, indicating that liquid-type e-cigarettes may act as a gateway to conventional cigarettes among adolescents," and emphasized the need to strengthen regulations related to flavored cigarettes.

The proportion of students who had newly tried even a sip of alcohol was highest at 15.8% when advancing to 1st grade middle school. The reasons for first drinking were 48.9% due to encouragement from family or adults at home, 19.7% out of curiosity about taste or aroma, and 8.2% by mistake, confusing it with water or other drinks.

Indicators of eating habits and physical activity tended to worsen as students advanced to higher grades. Comparing responses from 6th grade elementary to 1st grade high school, the rate of skipping breakfast five or more days a week increased significantly from 17.9% to 29.0%. The proportion consuming fast food such as pizza, chicken, and hamburgers three or more times a week also rose from 20.9% to 31.1%. Conversely, the rate of eating fruit at least once a day dropped sharply from 35.4% to 17.2%, and the rate of consuming vegetables three or more times a day fell from 18.0% to 8.0%.

The rate of engaging in physical activity for 60 minutes or more five or more days a week decreased from 29.8% in 6th grade elementary to 14.6% in 1st grade high school, and the rate of high-intensity physical activity for 20 minutes or more three or more days a week also declined from 56.4% to 34.3%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.