INDIANAPOLIS – The 2022 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS), released Tuesday, shows that commercial tobacco use among Hoosier young people is the lowest in the past two decades, and e-cigarette usage is at its lowest point since 2012.
The IYTS is conducted biennially. It collects data from students in grades 6 to 12 regarding all types of tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, access to tobacco products, knowledge and attitudes, media and advertising, school curriculum, and tobacco cessation. Over 2,900 high school students and 2,500 middle school students participated in the 2022 survey.
Over 1 in 10 high school students (10.5 %) and 1 in 30 middle school students (3.3 %) in Indiana reported current tobacco product use in the 2022 survey. Of those who currently used tobacco, about one-fourth of middle school students (24.6 %) and almost one-third of high school students (30.6 %) reported using more than one tobacco product.
The majority of youth who used tobacco in the past 30 days – 64.7 % of middle school youth and 74.5% of high school youth – reported using flavored tobacco products.
E-cigarette rates were also lower than in previous years, with 9.2 percent of high schoolers and 2.2 percent of middle schoolers reporting current use. However, e-cigarettes were still the most commonly used tobacco product among Indiana youth in 2022. The rate of frequent e-cigarette use (20 or more of the past 30 days) was higher than in previous years, at 44% among high school students who currently used e-cigarettes.
