Asthma And Respiratory Foundation Informs Teens: Don’t Get Sucked Into Vaping
This week, there has been extensive media coverage
talking about the vaping epidemic in high schools across the
country. Both school principals and researchers have warned
that this is a very real issue.
Education around
vaping is vital, and the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation
NZ (ARFNZ) provide this with their website ‘Don’t Get Sucked
In’. The website includes information and resources on
vaping to encourage teens not to try vaping (or smoking) in
the first place, by challenging them to think critically
about vaping and how it fits with their goals.
Last
year, ARFNZ brought together a group of experts – the
‘Vaping Educational Advisory Group’ (VEAG) – to
continually review and advise on the information on the
website.
The site sits within the wider body of work
conducted by ARFNZ to reduce the appeal of vaping (and
smoking) to children and young people, and to promote
healthy lungs.
“It’s so important that our rangatahi
are educated about vaping and what the real risks are, so
that they can make the right choices,” says Letitia Harding,
ARFNZ Chief Executive. “E-cigarettes can be a useful tool
for cigarette smokers who have failed to quit using Medsafe
and FDA-approved smoking cessation products. However, many
teens who have never smoked cigarettes are being ‘sucked
in’ by marketing that is attractive to young people,
particularly on social media. We don’t want kids who were
never smokers, or who are at very low risk of taking up
smoking, to become addicted to vaping products. It’s a
whole new problem.”
There is a widespread
misconception around vaping harm, largely stemming from a
2015 report by Public Health England, where vaping was
stated to be “95 per cent safer” than smoking. The evidence
used for this claim was weak, and it has been widely
refuted.
“The findings from this report were used as a
tag-line for the vaping industry and repeated in the media
for many years,” says Letitia. “Young people have heard this
message and have unfortunately adopted the mindset that
vaping is safe, or perhaps assumed vaping to be only 5%
harmful – we need to send a clear message and let them know
that it isn’t.”
For more information and resources
on vaping, visit dontgetsuckedin.co.nz
