The prevalence of cigarette smoking among Ukrainian teenagers has remained stable over the past seven years, with 12% of schoolchildren having this harmful habit. At the same time, almost one in five (19.6%) use electronic cigarettes.
According to the Ministry of Health, the results of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) evidence this.
Experts noted that since 2005, Ukraine has made significant progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking among adolescents. Whereas previously, one in four schoolchildren (24%) had this harmful habit, in 2017, this number fell to 9.2%.
Even though experts note a stable level of smoking prevalence among Ukrainian adolescents, a survey conducted in 2023 showed that 12.3% of students resort to this method of tobacco use.
One in five adolescents surveyed (19.6%) admitted to using electronic cigarettes. This figure has increased slightly compared to 2017 (18.4%), when this data was collected for the first time.
The authors of the study noted that about half of teenage smokers (47%) want to quit smoking. At the same time, they use alternative tobacco and nicotine products more often than adults.
The survey showed that 6.9% of adolescents use tobacco products for heating (TPHS), 5.1% use smokeless tobacco, and 2.9% use nicotine pouches.
Almost half of the teens surveyed (47.3%) admitted that they had no trouble buying cigarettes because of their age.
The study was conducted in Ukraine in 2005 and later in 2011, 2017, and 2023.
The latest results represent the prevalence of smoking among adolescents aged 13-15, the largest age cohort of schoolchildren who participated in the study. Previous research has shown that the number of smokers in Ukraine has increased, with the most significant increase among people aged 18 to 39. In addition, many Ukrainian youth believe in the myth that heated tobacco products are less harmful to the body than cigarettes.
