JAMA Pediatrics study finds teen girls aged 15-17 vape more than boys since 2021

Teenage girls aged 15 to 17 have vaped at higher rates than boys in the same age group since 2021, according to a study reported in JAMA Pediatrics. Before 2018, the pattern ran the other way, with male vaping noticeably higher.

The gender gap reversed while overall youth vaping fell

Two trends run in opposite directions in the study. The national youth rate dropped sharply across the ten-year window, but the gap between girls and boys in the 15-17 band flipped after 2021.

The source material does not break the 1.62% and 0.21% figures down by age band, so the two findings may describe different populations within the youth category. It also does not name the survey or dataset behind the numbers.

A family medicine physician points to packaging, peers and social media

Dr. Gerald Rogado, a family medicine physician at Adventist Health, attributed the shift among girls to several factors. He named peer pressure, social media and marketing, and singled out brightly coloured packaging as drawing young people to try vaping in social settings.

Rogado also described nicotine as highly addictive and said it affects the adolescent brain’s ability to think, focus and concentrate. He said it has been shown to increase depression and anxiety in that age group, and listed throat and lung irritation, coughing, shortness of breath and reduced athletic performance as effects. These are his statements as reported, not findings of the study itself.

Fresno County’s tobacco-free coalition runs education work locally

The Fresno County Tobacco-Free Coalition runs a local campaign called Don’t Blow it Fresno. The coalition says it provides education and resources to the community to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand and third-hand smoke.

The source material gives no figures on the campaign’s reach or results, and no date for when the study was published.

Who is affected

The finding matters most for regulators and health bodies that shape youth-access rules and public messaging, and for retailers whose age-verification and in-store placement practices are scrutinised. Schools and parents in the 15-17 age band are the population the study describes.

Analysis for suppliers: the headline decline in overall youth vaping is the number most often quoted, but the age- and gender-specific reversal points to a narrower audience. Manufacturers and distributors reviewing youth-access compliance and packaging design face questions about how products are presented, though the source material names no regulation or enforcement step.

What happens next

No legislative or regulatory step follows from this report in the source material. The study as described leaves open which survey data underpin the gender figures and how the 15-17 band fits the national totals.

Questions readers ask

When did girls aged 15-17 start vaping more than boys?

The study reports teenage girls aged 15 to 17 have vaped at higher rates than boys since 2021, after a period before 2018 when male vaping was noticeably higher.