Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students - National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021

This article discusses a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of U.S. middle and high school students focused exclusively on tobacco product use behaviors and associated factors in 2021. The National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) acknowledges that commercial tobacco use, which is known to be the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the united states, starts for a majority of users in adolescence. Therefore the study seeks to ascertain what affects, risk factors, and disparities exist among adolescant participants and to evaluate what the public health implications are. Data gathered was anlalyzed by statistical analysis which concluded that approximately 1 in 4 students in the study population have used tobacco products and 1 in 10 have used in in the past 30 days. Disparities existed among subgroups, with higher use among LGBT participants and those with self-reported psychological distress. Dependence issues were also found to be developing as early as middles school, with nearly 1 in 5 overall reporting wanting to use nictotine products within a half hour of waking. For these reasons, the study supports public health action such as population-level evidence based tobacco control strategies, and FDA action such as restriction of sales of flavored e-cigarettes, to mitigate the risk of initiation and dependency in youth.

Gentzke, A. S., Wang, T. W., Cornelius, M., Park-Lee, E., Ren, C., Sawdey, M. D., Cullen, K. A., Loretan, C., Jamal, A., & Homa, D. M. (2022). Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries (Washington, D.C.: 2002), 71(5), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss7105a1