CDC study: Vaping holds steady in U.S. high schools

NEW YORK — Vaping held steady last year in high school students and declined in middle school kids, according to new government data, but some researchers are skeptical because the survey may have missed out on a booming e-cigarette brand.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey did not specifically ask about Juul e-cigarettes, and research suggests some kids don’t equate the trendy devices with other types of e-cigarettes.

Given that omission and the skyrocketing sales of Juul last year, the survey may be missing a big part of what’s going on, said Jidong Huang, a Georgia State University researcher.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that provide users with aerosol puffs that typically contain nicotine, and sometimes flavorings like fruit, mint or chocolate. They’re generally considered a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes, but health officials warn that nicotine is harmful to developing brains.

The new CDC study is based on a questionnaire given annually to roughly 20,000 students in grades 6 through 12.

The CDC survey, and others, have shown a general decline in the use of tobacco products.

But the level of vaping soared until 2016, when there was a puzzling and dramatic drop, from 16 percent to 11 percent of high school students. That translated to a decline in teen vapers from 3 million to 2.2 million in just one year.

Experts at the time attributed the decline to public health warnings, sales restrictions and the possibility that fewer kids saw e-cigarettes as being novel.

The CDC study released Thursday found high school vaping was at about the same level last year as in 2016, about 11 percent or about 1 in 9 students.

Cigarette use continued to fall, though slightly, and last year dropped into a tie with cigars for second place. That marks the first time cigars have been smoked as commonly as cigarettes among children.

Among middle schoolers, about

1 in 30 said last year that they had recently vaped. That was a decrease from the year before, when it was about 1 in 23.

Brian King, who oversees the

CDC’S tobacco survey work, said he believes the survey captures a sizable proportion of kids who are using Juul e-cigarettes, but he acknowledged possibly “some under-estimation.”