RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Changing awareness and sources of tobacco and e-cigarettes among children and adolescents in Great Britain
JF Tobacco Control
JO Tob Control
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e199
OP e207
DO 10.1136/tc-2023-058011
VO 33
IS e2
A1 Parnham, Jennie C
A1 Vrinten, Charlotte
A1 Cheeseman, Hazel
A1 Bunce, Laura
A1 Hopkinson, Nicholas S
A1 Filippidis, Filippos T
A1 Laverty, Anthony A
YR 2024
UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/33/e2/e199.abstract
AB Introduction It is illegal in the UK to sell tobacco or nicotine e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 years, as is displaying tobacco cigarettes at the point of sale. This paper examined changes in exposure to display of these products in shops and sources of these products among children and adolescent users over timeMethods Data from representative repeated online cross-sectional surveys of youth in Great Britain (11–18 years) were used (2018–2022; n=12 445). Outcome measures included noticing product displays and sources of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes. Logistic regressions examined the associations of these outcome variables over time and with sociodemographic variables.Results Of 12 040 participants with complete data, 10.1% used some form of nicotine product (4.2% cigarettes, 2.9% e-cigarettes, 3.0% both) at least occasionally. The likelihood of noticing tobacco cigarettes on display fell over time for both supermarkets (2018: 67.1% to 2022: 58.5%) and small shops (2018: 81.3% to 2022: 66.3%), but the likelihood of noticing e-cigarettes in supermarkets rose (2018: 57.4% to 2022: 66.5%). Sources of tobacco cigarettes did not differ over time, but e-cigarette users were more likely to get their e-cigarettes from small shops in 2022 (51.2%) vs 2019 (34.2%) (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.24, 3.29).Conclusion This study provides evidence that current policies to limit awareness of and access to both tobacco and e-cigarettes among adolescents in the UK may not be effective. UK policies on the advertising, promotion and sale of both tobacco and e-cigarettes need to be reinforced to deter use among children and adolescents.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. All data in this study are the property of YouGov and ASH who may be contacted about it.