US
A survey conducted to inform US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory policy has revealed that young adults are less likely to view tobacco products as “very harmful” but more likely to find health information online.
The data collected from the study are found in the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a collaboration between the US National Cancer Institute and FDA, which randomly sampled US postal addresses in 2015.
The survey includes 3,738 respondents, grouping them into three age brackets: 18-29, 30-64 and 65 years and older.
The study’s author, Dr. Janiper Kwak-Chae of Stony Brook School of Medicine in New York, analyzed the data and found that people in the two oldest age brackets were likely to view tobacco products as “very harmful.”
He also found that among non-smokers, the two youngest age brackets were 44-60% less likely to view cigarettes as “very harmful” compared to the oldest respondents.
Among all respondents, the youngest were also significantly less likely than the oldest to view certain products as “very harmful.” Those certain products include e-cigarettes, hookah, and other water pipes, roll-your-own cigarettes, and cigars.