Atlanta, GA–A report out today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), found that current tobacco product use declined among U.S. middle and high school students from 2019 to 2020—driven by decreases in e-cigarette, cigar, and smokeless tobacco use. However, the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) data analysis also found that about 1 in 6 (nearly 4.5 million) students were current users of some type of tobacco product in 2020.
The report was released in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study assessed current (past 30-day) use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, pipe tobacco, and heated tobacco products. This is the first study to present NYTS data on the use of heated tobacco products (products that heat processed tobacco leaf to produce an emission, which the user inhales into their lungs), and tobacco product use by sexual identity.
The study found that nearly 1 in 4 high school students (3.65 million) were current users of any tobacco product in 2020, down about 25% from about 1 in 3 (4.7 million) in 2019. About 1 in 15 middle school students (800,000) were current users of any tobacco product in 2020, down nearly 50% from about 1 in 8 (1.5 million) in 2019. From 2019 to 2020, decreases among both middle and high school students also occurred in use of any combustible tobacco product, the use of 2 or more tobacco products, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco. In contrast, no change occurred in current use of cigarettes, heated tobacco products, hookah, or pipe tobacco during 2019–2020.
For the 7th year in a row, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among both middle and high school students. Additionally, many youths used multiple tobacco products; among current tobacco product users, about 1 in 3 high school students (1.27 million) and about 2 in 5 middle school students (340,000) used two or more tobacco products in 2020.
Key Findings
- Among high school students, current tobacco product use was highest for e-cigarettes (19.6%), followed by cigars (5.0%), cigarettes (4.6%), smokeless tobacco (3.1%), hookah (2.7%), heated tobacco products (1.4%), and pipe tobacco (0.7%).
- Among middle school students, current tobacco product use was highest for e-cigarettes (4.7%), followed by cigarettes (1.6%), cigars (1.5%), hookah (1.3%), heated tobacco products (1.3%), smokeless tobacco (1.2%), and pipe tobacco (0.4%).
- Among middle and high school students combined by sex, any current tobacco product use was 16.7% among males and 15.8% among females.
- Among middle and high school students combined by race/ethnicity, any current tobacco product use was 17.8% among non-Hispanic whites, 17.2% among Hispanics, 13.2% among non-Hispanic blacks, and 10.1% among non-Hispanic students of other races.
- Among middle and high school students combined by sexual identity, any current tobacco product use was 25.5% among those identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; 15.1% among those identifying as heterosexual; and 11.1% among those reporting “not sure” about their sexual identity.
