The Federal Government has announced that it is rolling out a national program to prevent young Australians from taking up vaping.
Vaping is endemic in Australian schools, and it has become the number one behavioural issue for many students. A national survey found that 1 in 6 high school students had vaped recently.
Concerningly, 12-year-olds who had vaped have been found to be 29 times more likely to go on to try smoking than 12-year-olds who had not vaped.
While the long-term health impacts of vaping are still unclear, we do know that you are exposed to chemicals when you vape. Many vapes in Australia contain nicotine – even when the label says that they don’t.
You may experience breathlessness, feelings of nausea and dizziness, persistent coughing, heightened feelings of stress and anxiousness. Vaping may also cause irreversible lung damage.
About the OurFutures Vaping Prevention Program
To be rolled out next year, the OurFutures Vaping Prevention Program will empower Year 7 and 8 students across all high schools in Australia with knowledge about the risks and harms associated with vaping and the skills they need to make informed decisions regarding vaping use.
As A/Prof Emily Stockings, Program Lead of ‘Smoking, Vaping and Mental Health’ at the Matilda Centre stated on Wednesday: “This unique, evidence-based program provides young people with a toolkit of skills that can be used in the real world to prevent vaping and smoking. We know these kinds of coping skills can also have flow on effects on mental health and wellbeing.”
A current trial of the program, developed and delivered by the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, is proving to be successful.
The program is currently being evaluated in a cluster randomised control trial across 40 Australian high schools and 5,000+ students in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.
Over 8 in 10 students reported that the skills and information they learnt would help them deal more effectively with vaping situations in the future.
Data from the trial has also revealed a clear association between poor mental health and vaping among Australian students, with those experiencing severe depressive symptoms and/or high levels of stress being more than twice as likely to have vaped.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Mark Butler MP said: “Vaping is a modern problem, and we need modern and innovative solutions if we are to avoid another generation of people becoming addicted to nicotine.”
“The experts at the Matilda Centre have worked closely with students and teachers to develop and deliver an evidence-based online program to highlight the risks of vaping.”
“We’re standing with thousands of parents and educators who are rightfully concerned about the impact of vaping and cigarettes on the health and wellbeing of young Australians,” the Minister added.
Schools can register their interest in the OurFutures Vaping Prevention Program here.
Young people can get further information about vaping and their mental health here.
