New report maps out the use of nicotine products by children and youth in the Nordic region
Folkehelse
16 jan 2025
In recent years, new types of tobacco-free nicotine products have been launched on the market. Many of the products, like electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches, appeal to children and young people. But what does the trend in the use of the products look like among this target group in the Nordic region?
A new report, that will be published early 2025, presents a survey and analysis of trends in the use of tobacco-free nicotine products among children and young people in the Nordic region during 2018 to 2024.
– We want to look at the trends and national regulations in the countries and compare them to see how the regulations evolve. By making a map of the big picture in the Nordics we hope to be able to learn from and inspire each other, says Research Assistant Stine Arp.
In their work with the report the authors, Senior Researcher Lotus Sofie Bast and Stine Arp from the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark, have already found some trends and similarities. For example, disposable e-cigarettes, vapes, are on a large rise in many of the countries.
– In Denmark for example we know that the vapes became more common in summer 2021. Over a period of one year from that we can see an explosion in use of vapes, . This seems to be the trend in many other Nordic countries too, says Lotus Sofie Bast.
Children and youth must be protected
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance that has many harmful effects on children and young people and can affect both their physical and mental health. It is therefore important to protect them from becoming addicted to nicotine.
– The use of other nicotine products than cigarettes is increasing in the Nordics. Hopefully this project will help us get a better picture, so we can stop this harmful trend. There are no joint regulations on these new nicotine products yet, and that´s why the national regulations are so significant, says Arp.
One of the aims with the report is to provide politicians, decision makers and health professionals a larger view of the situation in the Nordic and Baltic countries and to start a discussion about common regulations.
– It is extremely important to do this work right now. We want to give our politicians more knowledge so they can start discussing whether it would be beneficial to have regulations that are the same across countries, so that more preventive work could be done together, Bast adds.
Important to include the Baltics
In addition to the Nordic countries, the Baltics are also included in the upcoming report. It is important to include the Baltics, but there have been some challenges in comparing the Nordics with the Baltic countries.
– When collecting data, we realized that there are some differences in what data is available. The Baltic countries and their regulations are interesting, but we also need to be able to compare them to the regulations in the Nordic countries, says Arp.
The study will also present examples of pioneering regulative initiatives from some of the included countries.
– We hope that these examples can be an inspiration for the remaining countries, Arp summarises.
The report is a result of the project Use of nicotine products by children and young people in the Nordic region. It is a collaboration between the Nordic Welfare Centre and the National Institute of Public Health at the University of Southern Denmark.