Nearly half of parents in a national poll felt confident they’d know if their child used e-cigarettes. An expert offers 4 steps to identify and address vaping at home
by Beata Mostafavi
Nearly half of parents say they would definitely know if their child was vaping, despite characteristics of vaping devices that make it easy to hide or disguise their use, a national poll suggests.
Four in five parents also think their adolescent or teen understands the health risks of vaping with few believing their child has tried it, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at University of Michigan Health.
“Very few parents believe their child is vaping, but they may not have a realistic view about their child’s exposure or experiences with e-cigarettes,” said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H. “Most parents recognize the health risks of vaping and feel their child does too,” she added. “However, it’s important for parents to understand that the part of the brain that connects emotions to judgement is still developing for adolescents and teens and they may not consider long-term health effects in their daily actions.”
The nationally representative report is based on responses from 1,325 parents with at least one child aged 11-18 polled in February 2023.
Vaping has proliferated over the past decade, with hundreds of brands available on the market. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Youth Tobacco Survey found that in 2022 about 3% of middle schoolers and 14% of high school students said they’d vaped in the past 30 days.
Most parents are positive they would definitely or probably know if their child vaped from their kids telling them, finding vaping supplies in their child’s things, detecting it by smell or finding out from other people.
“Based on national data about vaping prevalence among middle and high schoolers, many parents may be unaware that their child has tried it,” Clark said. “Devices can look like common objects that parents might not immediately recognize. Disposable vapes are becoming more popular and can be thrown away before teens are around parents or teachers. Vaping doesn’t have the telltale odor of traditional cigarettes. All this makes vaping harder to detect and easier to hide than some parents may realize.”
Source: Michigan Medicine [https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/would-you-know-if-your-kid-was-vaping]
Image Source: Lindsay Fox [https://pixabay.com/users/lindsayfox-2320706/]
