Teen Smoking: Is It More Socially Acceptable Than It Should Be? | blog

Does a patient in your practice smoke with the help of a hookah or a water pipe for inhaling flavored
tobacco or inhale other drugs like cannabis or an opiate? Have you ever even
asked about the narghile? Agaku et al. (10.1542 / peds.2018-0341) explains that it is worth talking to teenagers after reading their
study published this week in our journal. The authors analyzed the data from
The 2016 National Survey of Youth Smoking, which included more than 20,600 teens out of 6 to 12 . Students reported their narghile frequency, where they smoked, and
what was their perception of other narghile pipes? The results indicate
that while students overestimated the number of classmates who used a hookah,
10.5% of respondents had used a narghile at some point in their life
26.3% of those who used a narghile stayed "casual" and 7.9%
frequent smokers. Although students overestimated the prevalence, the numbers
are always worrying, especially when it becomes clear from the results that the odds
to use these devices increases if others in the house use them or if teens
used other smoking products especially menthol cigarettes or other non-flavored cigarettes
tobacco products. It is also interesting to note that the hookah was most likely to occur
at a friend's house (47.7%), at home (31.8%) or at another family member
house (20.8%).

If you are not familiar with what you can do about narghile prevention, the authors
some suggestions in their discussion of the results. The fact that so many things
of this smoking occurs in the home environment may require a little different educational
strategies that change the social norm in these homes. The house should be where the heart is – but not the hookah. Read this study and learn more.

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