Number of smoking young people hits record low in England: survey

Only 18 percent of pupils in England had tried cigarettes at least once, which was the lowest since records began in 1982, according to a survey released Thursday by the UK government.

The government's Health and Social Care Information Centre commissioned a survey of 6,173 pupils in 210 schools, who were mostly aged 11 to 15, last year.

The results showed less than 18 percent said they had smoked at least once, compared with 42 percent in 2003.

As for e-cigarettes, which is getting more and more popular among adults, over 22 percent of pupils had used these products at least once, and around three percent reported occasional use and just one percent use the products at least once a week.

But some experts still said this is an alarming trend.

Young people are more likely to have tried an e-cigarette than a traditional cigarette, said Elizabeth Fuller, the research director at NatCen Social Research, which conducted the survey with other insinuation.

The novelty element, price, and the fact that there were currently no restrictions on children under the age of 18 buying e-cigarettes might be the reasons why so many young people tried the products, said Fuller. Endit