The 27th Indiana Youth Survey shows a decreased vapor and nicotine product use in students between grades six and 12 this year in its annual survey.
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center at IU-Bloomington's School of Public Health conducted the survey and highlighted the use of electronic vapor products for the third year. IU highlighted the information in a release Wednesday.
In the release, IU specifically called attention to an analysis of vapor and nicotine products this year. The survey also highlights a decrease in the use of e-cigarettes and vapor products among students in all grades except grade seven.
“Even with a decline in use, we are concerned by the numbers of youth using electronic vapor products, as well as traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes,” the center's executive director Ruth Gassman said in the release. “All tobacco or nicotine-based products have health risks.”
In 2017, five percent of seventh-graders, 8.6 percent of eighth-graders, 14 percent of 10th-graders, 15.8 percent of 11th-graders and 19.7 percent of 12th-graders have used electronic vapor products in the last 30 days.
The 2017 survey was put out between January and April to students in grades six to 12 at 409 schools throughout Indiana.
A total of 134,664 youth from both public and nonpublic schools filled out surveys that asked about their use of various drugs, their age of first usage of various drugs, and risk and protective factors.
Katelyn Haas
