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According to the latest study by Student Lifestyle and Health Monitoring (HBSC), published last week, 27 percent smoked at least once a month. girls and 31 percent. Children. The smoking rate in the thirteen-year-old category for the past month was 12 and 13 percent among girls and boys, respectively, and 3 and 5 percent among eleven-year-old boys.
Overall, just over half of 15-year-olds and more than a third of thirteen-year-olds reported smoking at least once, with slightly more children.
A study based on 2018 data from 45 countries shows that Lithuania shares 1-2 places with Bulgaria and Latvia in terms of smoking rates.
Compared to data from a study conducted four years earlier, the number of 15-year-old smokers has increased: in 2014, 22 percent reported smoking at least once a month. girls and 29 percent. Children.
About a third of 15-year-olds have experienced poisoning.
In addition, every third interviewed in Lithuania, aged 15, indicated that they had been intoxicated at least twice in their lives. Boys (35%) reported this condition more frequently than girls (30%). According to this indicator, only Denmark and Wales are ahead of Lithuania in the list of 45 countries and regions.
Compared to a survey done four years ago, the situation has improved: Then, 41 percent of those who were intoxicated at least twice in their lives reported children and 33 percent. Girls.
Another fifth of 15-year-olds of both sexes said they had been drunk at least once in the past month; According to this indicator, Lithuania is also in the top ten on the list, and the situation has not changed significantly in four years, according to the survey.
In the eleven-year category, those who were intoxicated reported at least twice 1 percent. girls and 3 percent. children, between thirteen years, 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively. And in these age groups, Lithuania is among the top countries.
In total, more than 4,000 people participated in the study. Lithuanian students.
Researchers: the growth of smoking was fueled by e-cigarettes
Kastytis Šmigelskas, a professor at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, head of this study in Lithuania, told BNS that the situation regarding teen smoking and alcohol consumption, both in Lithuania and in Europe, is changing for the better, but Lithuania does not lose its leadership position.
According to him, the growth of smoking among fifteen-year-olds may have been determined by the popularity of e-cigarettes: they are destined to separate into a separate category in the 2022 study.
“Looking at the social environment, it can be assumed that young people no longer differentiate between the use of ordinary cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. The use of these cigarettes is increasing among young people, and quite strongly in the 15-year age group. We assume that this is due to the increase in smoking electronic cigarettes ”, emphasized K. Šmigelskas.
His colleague, LSMU professor Tomas Vaičūnas, says that with the popularity of e-cigarettes and hot tobacco, the latter are chosen less often by teens because of the complicated accessibility for minors and relatively higher prices.
“At that time, vaporizer e-cigarettes, despite the existing regulation in Lithuania, can be bought quite freely, in other ways, and those methods are not necessarily illegal. For example, teens ship them from e-stores, from China or other markets where they can buy them quite easily. In this place, the control is incomplete, it is quite difficult to guarantee it, “said T. Vaičiūnas.
K. Šmigelskas emphasizes that alcohol consumption among 15-year-olds is of particular concern.
According to him, after the formal prohibition of the purchase of alcohol by people under the age of 20 in 2018, consumption will continue to be allowed from the age of 18, and adults who notice this behavior by young people “do not have the social responsibility to inform or discipline him. ” According to him, younger people also use these ambiguities when finding who will buy them alcohol.
“The students, young people, access these products through intermediaries. Therefore, that control mechanism, where sales are prohibited and the consumption of alcohol or tobacco is no longer prohibited, leads to a situation in which some areas, such as the school centuries, are no longer publicly prohibited, although we clearly understand that not everyone is old enough to consume, “he said.
The researcher also notes that the data was collected in 2018, only after bans on the sale of alcohol to children under the age of 20 went into effect, so the actual effect of the restrictions may be revealed in later years.
“It will be very interesting to see the data in 2022 and in the perspective that this year the Seimas will likely change the ruling majority, which may lead to the new regulation of the laws,” said K. Šmigelskas.
The professor points out that drinking habits are determined by cultural peculiarities, because, according to research, teenagers drink excessively in Denmark, Scotland and Wales, where beer is generally considered “just a drink, not entirely alcohol “
T. Vaičiūnas points out that alcohol consumption in Lithuania has been declining in the last three years, so total alcohol consumption is likely to decrease among minors as well, as it is the behavior of adults that has an impact significant in children’s choices.
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