Smoking experienced at a later age

Experiments with tobacco use are started at a later age than ever. Experimenting with smoking is much less popular than before: in 18-year-olds about one-quarter has never tried and 12-year-olds only about one-eight has tried smoking.

Smoking among 18-year-olds may begin to decline. Given that 25% of 16-18-year-old adolescents still smoke cigarettes, it is highly important that smoking prevention efforts are continued.

The decrease seen in snus use has stopped but among girls snus use may be increasing.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products were used by 2% of 14-year and 6% of 16-year-olds. The most common of the retail outlets where the underage youths acquired nicotine replacements were pharmacies. Other locations included food stores and other retail outlets but more rarely. Friends were the most popular channel for acquisition.

Although the retail sale of NRT products to minors is forbidden by law, they can purchase these products at pharmacies with a prescription. However, NRTs can easily be acquired in self-service pharmacies even by underage people who thus have access to a nonprescription product that strengthens or even creates nicotine addiction.

Those reporting use of NRT products include minors who, based on their reported smoking status, are misusing the product. Efforts should be made to intensify the supervision of NRT product sales in both retail outlets and pharmacies.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has significantly decreased since the 1990s. Approximately 5%, or one in every 20 children aged 14, and 1-2% of 12-year-olds continue nonetheless to spend at least one hour daily in smoky rooms.

Over the past two years, the decline in exposure has stopped in some age groups. At least in the younger age groups, home smoking can be regarded as the most important factor related to ETS exposure, and more effective means are needed to disseminate information to parents regarding its influence on smoking initiation and direct health effects of smoke.

The proportion of adolescents abstaining from alcohol continued to increase between 2005 and 2007. Of 14-year-olds 60% and of 16-year-olds about one-fourth abstain from alcohol. Recurring use of alcohol and drunkenness-oriented drinking also continue to decrease, except in 18-year-old boys of whom 12% still drink weekly until really drunk.

The lowering of alcohol taxes and removal of alcohol import quota in 2004 contributed to the increase of drunkenness-oriented drinking among 18-year-old boys, which has remained on a high level.

If this trend cannot be stopped e.g. by means of raising alcohol taxes, the social and health-related harms from alcohol will continue to increase among the older adolescents and young adults, and the objectives of the Health 2015 programme to decrease the adverse health effects of alcohol and drug use cannot be realized, according to adolescent health and lifestyle survey.

The decreasing trend in social exposure to drugs has levelled-off during the past two years, which means that the positive development seen at the turn of the millennium has stopped. The situation calls for careful surveillance of drug use to enable prompt action should the exposure to drugs begin to rise again.

Source:
Rimpelä A, Rainio S, Huhtala H, Lavikainen H, Pere L,  Rimpelä M. Nuorten terveystapatutkimus 2007. (Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey 2007.) Only in Finnish. Reports of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2007:63.