Children who vape are more likely to go on to be smokers
A Northampton vape owner has been reacting to the largest global review which found they are three times more likely to go on to become smokers.
Last updated 20th Aug 2025
A Northampton vape shop owner has been reacting to the news that children who vape are more likely to go on to be smokers, be diagnosed with asthma and have poor mental health, a new analysis suggests.
The largest global review on vaping in young people found "consistent evidence" that children who vape are three times more likely to go on to become smokers.
The study also pointed to links between vaping and increased odds of respiratory illness and substance abuse including drinking and marijuana use.
Experts from the University of York and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) analysed all available reviews on youth vaping - also known as an umbrella review.
This including 56 reviews on 384 studies.
Some 21 of these looked at use of e-cigarettes among young people and later cigarette smoking.
Not only were vapers more likely to smoke in later life, they were also more likely to smoke more frequently and intensely, experts said.
Ryan Michlig from Right Vape in Northampton, also offers advice on quitting smoking and vaping.
He says despite this review tobacco use in adults is going down, and hopes the same may happen for young people in the future.
"There are higher numbers of youth vapers because of recent access to those products, but what it doesn't state is the fact that in that period we've never had such record low, consistent numbers of youth acts youth smokers."
Researchers also tracked breathing problems linked to youth vaping.
The data suggested an increased risk among young people who vape of developing asthma or asthma exacerbation.
Other harmful outcomes linked to youth vaping included pneumonia, bronchitis, lower total sperm counts, dizziness, headaches and migraines.
There was also a link identified between depression and suicidal thoughts among young vapers.
Writing in the journal Tobacco Control, the authors said the data available "consistently indicated a significant association between e-cigarette use and later cigarette smoking in young people".
They said that it is difficult to "infer causality" from their review, but said the "repeated strong associations in prospective cohort studies are consistent with a causal relationship".
When it comes to stopping young people from vaping Ryan thinks with adults health and costs are persuasive arguments, but doesn't think both will work with young people:
"Every child is different. So if you are an adult, having a conversation with a child, you may want to get into a conversation and see which sparks a light in that child. It might be that somebody is actually a cost conscious child.
"It could be that, oh, you could buy a game at the end of the month and you know you've had five vapes that could have bought you that. That might be a trigger for somebody to go on being silly. It may be that a child actually is aware of health because they might have lost a loved one."
Ryan Michlig has this advice to parents, adults and carers worried children may be vaping:
"Try not to judge them. They're young and they don't understand how to navigate this world, but.
"Just get into a conversation and see what you can, you know, get out of it."
In June the ban on disposable vapes was introduced in a bid to curb their use among young people.
The crackdown on the devices, also known as single-use vapes, makes it illegal for any retailer - ranging from corner shops to supermarkets - to sell them.
The ban applies to both online and in-store sales across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and all disposable vapes whether or not they contain nicotine.
Retailers are still allowed to sell reusable vapes.