Youthwatch Vaping and Young People Report

This is a report by Healthwatch Cambridge and Peterbrough. Young people have worked on and written a report about vaping.

A piece of follow up work, 728 people responded to a survey and there was a focus group to further inform the project.

Key findings:

• It is clear from feedback, from young people in our study and others that the prevalence of vaping has increased in young people, with the majority of young people having not smoked cigarettes prior to vaping.

• Of those that do vape, the majority do not use vaping to prevent themselves from smoking cigarettes.

• Young people typically vape daily.

• Single use/disposable vapes are the most common type of vapes used by the young people surveyed. 

• Overall, young people’s understanding of nicotine and the effect it has on the body appears to be reasonable. With young people saying nicotine is addictive and makes it difficult to give up.

• Their understanding on the environmental impact is less understood.

• We saw a steep increase in vaping at the start of secondary school.

• The most common reason given for vaping was to relieve stress and improve mental health, followed by comments around social pressures such as vaping ‘to look cool’ and peer pressure.

• The primary reason given for not vaping was due to this being perceived as being unhealthy and bad for you. 

There are recommendations in this report:

1. They recommend preventative initiatives are introduced for 11–12 year-olds (Year 7 & 8). This would link into our finding that the majority try vaping at ages 13-16. 

2. They recommend and will support the launch of localised public education campaigns in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, focusing on the unknown health risks of vaping. This should target young people in an attempt to address the social acceptance of vaping and the perceived view in young people that it is fashionable. Its linked to a social habit and peer pressure. 

3. They recommend education for young people to take place within a school or college setting, specifying within PSHE lessons. As well as delivering this education to primary school aged children (particularly in the last year of primary education) as a preventative measure, to 
stop the steep rise in vaping take up as young people start secondary school.

4. They recommend schools utilise existing resources and organisationssuch as information packs, online materials and videos within the curriculum. And possibly from external professionals, such as those working in the NHS, to deliver this education.

5. They will support initiatives that provide local health care providers with resources and training on how to discuss vaping and its risks with younger patients, as well as guiding them on appropriate referral options for further support. 

6. In order to address adolescents who already vape, they recommend cessation support should be introduced, targeted towards young people. Consider peer cessation advisors, linking to health risks, mental health and environmental impact. (A Stop Smoking & Vaping Practitioner role is being piloted in Cambridgeshire until 31/03/2025 working with 12-18 year olds).

7. They would like to see more education around the difficulty in recycling single use vapes and promotion of recycling points for rechargeable vapes. Most young people were not aware of recycling points and the difficulty of recycling single use vapes. 

8. They recommend and support raising awareness of young people’susages and the link to poor mental health and its use to relax and reduce stress. They will support campaigns that increase public awareness of the links between vaping and mental health issues such as anxiety, stress and depression. They will support any local initiatives that introduce quit lines on apps or mental health websites such as Keep Your Head.

9. They recommend Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough provide links to these service/resources on our websites.

10. They recognise some young people want to vape and don’t want to give up.

There are no follow up actions. However the report is intended to be widely shared amongst key stakeholders listed at the end of the report.