Study Finds Persistent Use of e-Cigarettes Among Middle, High School Students

The FDA and CDC said this week that 3.08 million (11.3%) US middle and high school students reported current (past 30-day) use of any tobacco product in 2022, including 2.51 million (16.5%) high school students and 530,000 (4.5%) middle school students.

In 2022, nearly 1 in 9 (11.3%) middle and high school students reported using tobacco products. The findings were published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Data came from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).

The NYTS, a cross-sectional, self-administered survey, was administered January 18–May 31, 2022. Changes in methodology, driven by the pandemic, limit the ability to compare estimates from 2022 with those from prior years.

The study assessed 8 commercial tobacco products. E-cigarettes—for the ninth consecutive year—were the most commonly used tobacco product among all students (2.55 million), followed by cigars (500,000), cigarettes (440,000), smokeless tobacco (330,000), hookah (290,000), nicotine pouches (280,000), heated tobacco products (260,000), and pipe tobacco (150,000).

Among all race and ethnicity groups, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native students had the highest percentage of any tobacco product use (13.5%), while non-Hispanic White students reported the highest percentage of e-cigarette use (11.0%).

Approximately one million youth reported using any combustible tobacco product; non-Hispanic Black students reported the highest percentage of combustible tobacco product use (5.7%), including cigar use (3.3%).

Additional groups with a higher percentage of tobacco product use were those reporting grades of mostly Fs (27.2%); those reporting severe symptoms of psychological distress (18.3%); those who identified as transgender (16.6%) or as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (16.0%); and those with low family affluence (12.5%).