Canadian teens with extra cash in pocket most likely to pick up vaping: study

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that teens with a little extra cash in their pocket were the most likely to vape.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that teens with a little extra cash in their pocket were the most likely to vape.

“Our study was looking to identify teens who were at the highest risk for vaping, as well as vaping and smoking,” Dr. Kate Battista, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Waterloo, told Global News.

“And our key finding was that youth with available spending money were at the highest risk for vaping, and in fact, spending money was the most important risk factor.”

Battista explained that the team from the School of Public Health Sciences examined several risk factors, such as age, gender and family wealth, but found that the largest risk of teens vaping appeared to be whether they had a $20 bill in their pocket.

“Any adolescents with over $20 in available spending money were at an elevated risk,” Battista said.

“So we did have some questions about where they get their available spending money and it was from a variety of sources.

“Some had spending money from a paycheque, from a part-time job or occasional work like babysitting, and some had it from an allowance.”

Battista said a previous study conducted by the university had found that the number of youths who were vaping in Ontario had jumped from 7.6 per cent in 2013-14 to 25.7 per cent in 2018-19 as tobacco use had declined from 11 per cent to 7.9 per cent.