France: Middle and high school students are smoking less and less

A investigation published this Thursday, January 25, shows that fewer and fewer students enrolled in establishments under the Ministry of National Education are experimenting with and consuming tobacco. 8.2% of high school students reported being daily smokers in 2022 compared to 21.5% in 2018. Very encouraging results that make a tobacco-free generation by 2032 possible.[1].

The National Survey of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools on Health and Substances (ENCLASS) is conducted by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends (OFDT) and the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP), in partnership with the Ministry of Education. It is an anonymous survey based on a self-administered online questionnaire. The target population of the EnCLASS system is therefore made up of all students from the sixth to the final year enrolled in establishments under the Ministry of National Education, whether public or private under contract. In the end, the questionnaires of 9,566 middle and high school students were selected.

In addition to the decline in tobacco consumption, adolescents are also consuming less alcohol and cannabis.

Significant decline in tobacco experimentation and consumption

Consumption of tobacco products continued to decline in 2022 regardless of age or gender. Among middle school students (6^e at 3^e), tobacco experimentation increased from 21.2% in 2018 to 11.4% in 2022. Daily consumption, for its part, decreased from 2.6 to 0.9%. Shisha consumption also decreased among middle school students, its experimentation was halved, from 21.5 % to 11.7 %, while recent use (in the month) was divided by three, falling from 6.3 % to 2.1 % between 2018 and 2022.

Among high school students (2^nd in the final year of high school), experimentation with tobacco also fell sharply, from 53% to 34%. Daily consumption changed over the period studied from 17.5% to 6.2%. The same trend applies to shisha, experimentation of which fell from 41.7% to 28.2% and recent consumption from 12.1% to 5%. For the authors of the survey, these results make the prospect of a tobacco-free generation achievable, namely a prevalence of less than 5% among young people born in 2014 and reaching adulthood in 2032.

Daily consumption of vaping products on the rise

The results show that 24.2% of high school students reported vaping in the last month, compared to 16.6% in 2018, with daily consumption increasing from 2.8% to 3.8%. In middle school, daily use of e-cigarettes now concerns 1.4 % of middle school students, a prevalence equivalent to that of daily smoking. Recent use of this product is also continually increasing among high school students, with a quarter reporting having used it in the month of 2022 compared to 17% in 2018.

Regarding the experiment, it went from 52.1% to 44% among high school students between 2018 and 2022 and remained stable among middle school students (20%). For the authors, this development should be closely monitored; “There may be a shift from tobacco to vaping, which is seen as more modern and fun.” supposes Karine Gallopel-Morvan, professor at EHESP. The increase in the consumption of vaping products by young people can be explained by aggressive advertising campaigns deployed in recent years at points of sale and online. Driven by flavors, numerous promotional offers and high accessibility, vaping products appeal to young people.

Effectiveness of public health policies

This significant drop in tobacco consumption among adolescents is the direct consequence of the strong anti-smoking measures implemented in recent years in France. Certain measures such as price increases, the development of smoke-free areas or plain packaging have direct impacts on the youngest to limit initiation.

If France stands out for its strong and comprehensive anti-smoking legislation, it appears necessary that the measures are properly implemented. The results of the survey show that a third of high school students said that it was still very easy to get cigarettes, a proportion reaching 41% among minors in their final year of high school. Data supported by the mystery client studies of the National Committee against Smoking which show that two thirds of tobacconists sell tobacco to minors, thereby facilitating the accessibility and initiation of this product.

The new National Plan to Combat Tobacco, published at the end of 2023, demonstrates this desire to commit to a generation without tobacco and nicotine in the coming years.

Keywords: France, adolescents, middle school students, high school students, smoking, vaping, tobacco-free generation, anti-tobacco, OFDT, EHESP

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[1] Use of psychoactive substances among middle and high school students - EnCLASS 2022 Results, OFDT, published on January 25, 2024