Report reveals concerning trends in adolescent substance use in the UK

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Alcohol is the most commonly used substance, while vaping is now more common than cigarette smoking among young people, according to new research led by Kent's Centre for Health Services Studies. The research is part of the Health Behaviour of School Age Children Survey (HBSC) for England, part of an international programme led by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The latest data from across Europe, Central Asia and Canada, from the new HBSC study, paints a concerning picture of adolescent substance use in the UK and beyond. The report is based on data from 2021-22, from nearly 280,000 adolescent boys and girls.

The report shows that in the UK recent declines in smoking over the last few decades had stalled, and there was evidence of a small increase in alcohol use among 15-year-old girls in England since 2018. In addition, the study highlights particular risks for older girls around vaping and alcohol use, emphasising the need for targeted prevention strategies.

Major findings of the report include:

• Alcohol is the most common substance used among adolescents, with the report finding, that among 15-year-olds in the UK, over half of girls and around two-fifths of boys had drunk alcohol in the past 30 days. England had the highest rates of lifetime alcohol use among 11- and 13-year-olds.
• More than one in five 15-year-old girls have smoked a cigarettes in their lifetime and more than one in ten had done so in the last 30 days.
• Vaping rates are concerning and have now overtaken rates of cigarette smoking. Almost one in ten 11-year-olds in England have used an e-cigarette at least once. By age 15, this increases to 26% of boys and 40% of girls.
• Almost one in five 15-year-olds report having used cannabis at least once in their lifetime.

Early onset of alcohol use in England, and high levels of alcohol use among older girls, was also particularly concerning. Researchers say the report findings highlighted how available and normalised alcohol is, showing the urgent need for better policy measures to protect children and young people from harms caused by alcohol.

Dr Sabina Hulbert, co-lead of the research report and Senior Research Fellow in CHSS, said: 'English boys and girls aged 11 and 13 are the ones reporting the highest levels of lifetime alcohol consumption in all the countries surveyed. The vast majority of 15 years olds (65% of boys and 74% of girls) report having had access to alcohol, a banned substance responsible for psychological and physiological long-term damages. With figures on the rise, especially for girls, we urge our policy makers to make immediate changes to the clearly ineffective measures that are currently in place to protect our young generations from harm.'

Professor Sally Kendall, co-lead of the research report and Professor of Community Nursing and Public Health in CHSS, said: 'There is very little comfort to be taken from the fact that the proportions of children smoking in England are lower than the international averages in some cases. Clearly vaping has replaced smoking as a dangerous recreational activity in our children and those figures are amongst the highest between all other countries. Measures towards a lifetime ban on smoking are very welcome but policy makers need to act quickly to include vaping in their legislations.'

Researchers suggest the transition to e-cigarettes, as a more popular choice than conventional cigarettes, highlights an urgent need for more targeted interventions to address this emerging public health concern.

Dr Jo Inchley, HBSC International Coordinator, University of Glasgow, said: 'Steep increases in vaping among young people in the UK threaten to reverse some of the positive trends we've seen in substance use in recent years with overall declines in alcohol use and cigarette smoking since the 1990's. Rates of vaping have doubled in the last 4 years among girls in Scotland. Vapes are far too readily accessible to young people and the health risks are underestimated. New legislation to ban single use vapes is an important step forward but further action is needed to address these worrying trends.'

The report, 'A focus on adolescent substance use in Europe, central Asia and Canada', is published here.

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