December 01, 2022
Vaping clouds positive smoking survey
The annual Action on Smoking and Health survey has found youth daily smoking rates at a record low, with only 1.1 percent of Year 10 students saying they smoke at least once a day.
That amounts to around only 700 14 and 15 year olds across the motu.
Daily rates for Pacific teenagers are now at similar levels to their Asian and European/Pākehā counterparts.
More than 71 percent of Māori girls have never tried smoking compared to 63 percent last year, the biggest year on year increase in never smoking observed in more than 22 years of the survey.
ASH director Ben Youdan says there has been a 90 percent reduction in daily and regular smoking by Year 10 students since the survey was first done 1999.
The vaping rate has also gone down for the first time since vape use was included in the survey seven years ago.
However, there have been significant rises for vaping by Māori and in particular Māori girls, with one in four Maori girls now vaping regularly.