Vaping is the latest health threat for kids
Here’s what parents need to know to combat this alarming trend
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By Danielle Teigen
or nearly seven years, Fargo Cass Public Health Tobacco Prevention Educator Melissa Markegard has been talking about the dangerous effects of vaping, the products for which used to be called e-cigs when she first began educating kids, administrators and parents. Today vapes come in a wide variety of devices that resemble commonplace items like flash drives, watches, and pens and boast catchy flavors like berry lemon bubblegum and aloe grape. More alarming than the evolution of the products and names associated with vaping is the fact that younger and younger kids are becoming addicted to nicotine, thanks to vaping. “Vapes are not safer than cigarettes,” Markegard emphasized, noting that kids in local elementary schools have been caught with vape devices. Now with summer upon us, kids will have more opportunities to experiment with a dangerous product that could have long-term health effects.
What parents need to know In 2019, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory warning about the rising use of electronic cigarettes among youth. These products have been available since 2007 and deliver nicotine and other additives through an inhaled aerosol. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, data from 2019 showed e-cigarette use had increased 78% among high school students and that in 2018,
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ON THE MINDS OF MOMS | JUNE • JULY 2021
1 in 20 middle school students were currently using them. Closer to home, the percentage of 11th graders in Clay County who use vapes every day was as high as 43% and in North Dakota, more than 12% of high schoolers reported using them frequently. And vaping is not harmless. Nicotine is an addictive drug, and using nicotine during adolescence can adversely affect the areas of the brain that manage learning, memory and attention. The nicotine content of these devices is extremely high, Markegard said, and is saltbased, which means it is more easily absorbed into the body and addiction happens faster than with traditional cigarettes. Plus, inhaling the
