article: Many teenagers are tempted to try e-cigarettes, but few adopt the electronic devices as habit, a new study has found . Many teenagers are tempted to try e-cigarettes, but few become regular users, scientists have discovered. In fact, they found most of those teens who do try e-cigarettes are also smokers. This suggests young people are not using the electronic alternatives to try and quit their habits - nor are they  getting hooked on them after initially trying them. Researchers examined data from two nationally representative surveys of primary and secondary schoolchildren from more than 150 schools across Wales. In all, 1,601 children aged 10 to 11 and 9,055 children aged 11 to 16 were quizzed about their use of e-cigarettes. Experts at Cardiff University found use of e-cigarettes at least once was more common than having smoked a conventional cigarette in all age groups, bar the oldest (15 to 16 year olds). Almost six per cent of 10 to 11 year olds had tried e-cigarettes, far more than had been tempted by tobacco (1.6 per cent). Meanwhile, 12 per cent of 11 to 16 year olds said they had used e-cigarettes, irrespective of gender, ethnic background, or family affluence. This is in contrast with the pattern seen in smokers, where all these factors come into play. The researchers said it suggests e-cigarettes may have a wider appeal across all sectors of the teenage population. The proportion of teens who used e-cigarettes, but who had never smoked, rose from 5 per cent among 10 to 11 year olds, to eight per cent among 15 to 16 year olds. But only 1.5 per cent of those aged 11 to 16 said they regularly used the electronic devices - defined as at least once a month. The researchers note their findings suggest 'e-cigarettes are unlikely to make a major, direct contribution to adolescent nicotine addiction at present'. They note the World Health Organisation recognise there is little evidence as to whether e-cigarettes may or may not act as a gateway to conventional smoking. The odds of regular e-cigarette use were 100 times higher among current weekly smokers than among non-smokers, and 50 times higher among those who had smoked cannabis . The strong link between current smoking and e-cigarette use suggests that teens are not using these products to help them quit smoking, the researchers said. They admit that a lack of consensus about what constitutes ‘use’ of an e-cigarette presents something of a challenge for research in this area, and suggest that further much longer term studies to include the generation of young people who have grown up with e-cigarettes are needed before firmer conclusions can be drawn. The Cardiff University study noted most of those teens who do try e-cigarettes are also smokers, suggesting they are not using the electronic alternatives to try and quit their habits . Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, at Queen Mary University of London, said: 'The results of this large survey tally with all other available data and the picture is consistently reassuring. 'E-cigarettes do not attract non-smokers.' Professor Paul Aveyard, at the University of Oxford, said: 'This study shows that teenagers do what teenagers do: they experiment with smoking and nowadays also with e-cigarettes. 'Consequently some people who have never tried tobacco cigarettes try e-cigarettes but only a few use them at least monthly, suggesting they are unattractive to people who do not smoke. 'About a fifth of regular smokers are using e-cigarettes, which is not a concern because e-cigarettes are less likely to harm users than are tobacco cigarettes. 'It does not show us anything about whether e-cigarettes help teenagers quit. It is hard to measure rare events but this survey was large enough to be sure that fewer than one in 200 never-smokers used an e-cigarette at least once a month.' The study was published in BMJ Open.
highlights: Cardiff University scientists found few teenagers become regular users .
  Noted most teens who try e-cigarettes are already smokers .
  Suggest they are not using the electronic devices to help quit their habit .
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