Health Promotion Plan- Tobacco Use Vaping E-Cigarettes Hookah Chewing Tobacco and Smoking Cessation

Tobacco smoking, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is one of the leading issues and threats to public health that are of concern at a global level (WHO, 2022). Tobacco is used in various forms, such as vaping e-cigarettes, hookah, chewing tobacco, and smoking. However, regardless of the method of use, it remains harmful. This makes it important to develop health promotion programs targeted toward tobacco use cessation. This paper presents a health promotion plan for tobacco use cessation among teenagers and youth in the US and agreed-upon SMART goals with the target population and the importance of such goals.

Tobacco Use among Teenagers and the Youth

For the longest time, tobacco has been viewed as an issue revolving around people above the age of 50 years. Nevertheless, this has been one of the most inaccurate assumptions towards tobacco use across the US. Recent reports show a growing number of teenagers and youth are becoming the leading population groups in tobacco usage. A report compiled by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) (2022) noted that usage of tobacco products is established at quite a young age during adolescence. The report further notes that close to 90 percent of daily tobacco users, especially smokers, had their first taste of tobacco by their 18th birthday while 99 percent engage in smoking by the age of 26 years (CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 2022).

Various factors contribute to the rise of tobacco use among teenagers and the youth in the US today. Marketing strategies for cigarettes make smoking appear as if it is “cool” . Tobacco use in various forms has also been a theme in movies and other media, such as in games and music videos, making tobacco use more appealing to teenagers and the youth. Recent developments in e-cigarettes, vapers, hookah, nicotine pouches, and chewing gums have increased tobacco usage among teenagers and the youth. Other factors contributing to the rise in tobacco use among the youth are the lack of services targeted at reducing tobacco use, parental absence during early development, poor performance in school, and low self-esteem due to social pressures (Gentzke et al., 2022).

Significance of Teen and Youth Tobacco Use and Need for Health Promotion

Many teenagers and youth today use tobacco in one form or another and are developing nicotine dependency. An estimated 4.47 million youth were using one type of tobacco product in 2020 (CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 2022). In a 2021 survey of tobacco use among the youth, an estimated 4 percent of middle school and 14.6 percent of youth in high school were reported to have tried one or two types of tobacco products (Gentzke et al., 2022). Further, 1.5 percent and 5 percent of middle and high school students were reported to be currently using two or more tobacco products in several ways (Gentzke et al., 2022).

Cigarette smoking significantly negatively impacts the lives of the youth and future US generations. An estimate eight million annual deaths are linked to tobacco use (WHO, 2022). Of concern is that tobacco use does harm not only the users but also the people around them. The WHO (2022) estimates that over 1.2 million deaths related to tobacco use are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoking. The current trends of tobacco use, including e-cigarettes and vapers, are linked to subsequent use of tobacco cigarette smoking,s identified by data showing that an estimated 25 percent of new smokers graduate from e-cigs and vapers (Berry et al., 2019). Tobacco use, especially smoking and vaping among the youth, is also associated with the development of lung complications and has been identified as a leading risk factor for the development of COVID-19 (Gaiha et al., 2020). Tobacco use is associated with cancer, especially the development of lung cancer (Parascandola & Xiao, 2019).

Furthermore, tobacco use is expected to become prevalent among US youths as more are exposed to tobacco products from a young age. However, access to support and care services due to racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities is expected to hinder cessation efforts as well as further contribute to health disparities among the US youth. Consequently, this makes it important to develop health promotion programs to create awareness among users to reduce tobacco use and further support cessation efforts.