Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students--United States, 2014

The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibits "characterizing flavors" (e.g., candy, fruit, and chocolate) other than tobacco and menthol in cigarettes; however, characterizing flavors are not currently prohibited in other tobacco products. Analyses of retail sales data suggest that U.S. consumption of flavored noncigarette tobacco products, including flavored cigars and flavored e-cigarettes, has increased in recent years. There is growing concern that widely marketed varieties of new and existing flavored tobacco products might appeal to youths (2) and could be contributing to recent increases in the use of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and hookah, among youths. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) analyzed data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) to determine the prevalence of past 30 day use (current use) of flavored e-cigarette, hookah tobacco, cigar, pipe tobacco or smokeless tobacco products, and menthol cigarettes among middle and high school students, and the proportion of current tobacco product users who have used flavored products. An estimated 70.0% (3.26 million) of all current youth tobacco users had used at least one flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days. Among current users, 63.3%, (1.58 million) had used a flavored e-cigarette, 60.6%, (1.02 million) had used flavored hookah tobacco, and 63.5% (910,000) had used a flavored cigar in the past 30 days. Given the millions of current youth tobacco users, it is important for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control strategies to address all forms of tobacco use, including flavored tobacco products, among U.S. youths.