Such is the warning issued by Dr Adrián González Marrón, a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology, Public Health and Statistics at UIC Barcelona, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. According to the researcher, young people are taking up smoking at increasingly younger ages, with social media playing a pivotal role.
In this context, researchers from the Department of Medicine at UIC Barcelona have launched a research project to study the link between social media and the evolving use of new tobacco and nicotine products among young people in Spain.
According to Dr González Marrón, who is not only a lecturer and researcher at UIC Barcelona but also a member of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, the aim of the study is to deepen our understanding of the factors behind this behaviour and contribute to the development of new prevention and awareness strategies.
Social media and influencers: one of the main challenges
The researchers argue that one of the main factors driving the use of these new products is their promotion on social media. Advertising, both explicit and covert, often reaches young people through influencers, videos or digital content, which portray nicotine consumption as appealing and seemingly harmless.
“The promotion of new tobacco products on social media is currently one of the biggest challenges in tobacco control, particularly because it crosses borders and makes regulation more difficult,” highlights Dr González Marrón. In this regard, experts warn that existing regulations in Spain still present legal gaps, which facilitate the promotion of these products among young people.
What is tobacco use like among young people?
Although the tobacco industry markets these products as a “less harmful” alternative to conventional cigarettes, experts note that there is already evidence of their negative short-term health effects and, in particular, their role in normalising nicotine consumption among adolescents and young people. “This could hinder efforts to achieve the European target of reducing tobacco use to less than 5% of the population by 2040,” adds Dr González Marrón.
