Teenagers influenced by e-cigarette displays: study

A study had concluded that teenagers who recalled seeing e-cigarettes on sale were more likely to have tried them in past and were inclined to try them again.

According to UK researchers, the findings underlined a delicate balance between promoting electronic cigarettes as an aid to help adults stop smoking while ensuring that young people were not encouraged to use them.

However, according to experts, there was no evidence that the availability of e-cigarettes was creating a generation of young people who did not smoke but regularly used e-cigarettes.

The research conducted by the University of Stirling, involved 3,808 Scottish adolescents aged 11 to 18 in 4 secondary schools.

The participants were asked whether they knew about e-cigarettes, whether they had used them and whether they intended to try them over the next 6 months.

According to the findings, published in the journal BMC Public Health, there existed a strong association between remembering seeing e-cigarettes on sale and having a greater intention of using them in the future. This link was especially strong when the displays were seen in small shops, which according to the author, might be because these smaller stores were more likely to be used by adolescents.

The increase in the marketing campaigns of e-cigarettes in shops tied into increased numbers of adolescents reporting they had tried e-cigarettes or intended to try them, the researchers found.

There was also an association between awareness of traditional tobacco cigarette brands and having tried an e-cigarette.

"E-cigarettes are much less harmful than tobacco products and show promise as a stop smoking aid for adults. Therefore, it is reassuring that in our school survey we found that e-cigarette use is largely limited to occasional use among a small group of young people who already smoke," professor Sally Haw, chair in public and population health at Stirling University, cityam.com said.

"However, in this study, the first of its kind, we did find a relationship between exposure to e-cigarettes in the retail environment and the reported use of e-cigarettes by young people."