Gen Z Canadians are drinking less alcohol than older generations, but are using more nicotine products, a recent health report found.
Canadians aged 18 to 29 drink the least amount of alcohol of any age group, with less than 1 per cent reporting drinking every day, according to a report from insurance company PolicyMe. This is in contrast to the 60+ age group, where almost 5% said they drink alcohol every day.
The report's results are based on self-reported lifestyle choices made through insurance claims.
However, this age group had the highest daily use of nicotine products (7.3%) of any age group, the report said. In all other age groups, only 5 to 6 percent said they used nicotine daily.
This includes all forms of nicotine use, including products such as vaping, electronic cigarettes, traditional cigarettes, and chewing tobacco.
“The use of nicotine products is slightly higher among younger people than among older people. We can't say that[cigarette]smoking is the culprit,” said PolicyMe CEO Andrew Ostro, pointing to the growing popularity of alternative forms of smoking such as e-cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
Although smoking traditional cigarettes is not as popular as it once was, Canadian Lung Association CEO Sarah Batson said younger Canadians are attracted to new products.
“What we're seeing is an increasing number of young people entering the nicotine market for the first time, and that means things like e-cigarette use,” she said.
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According to a 2022 Statistics Canada report, younger Canadians are much more likely to have smoked an e-cigarette in the past 30 days (14% of youth aged 15-19 and 20% of youth aged 20-24), compared to 4% of Canadians aged 25 and over.
According to Statistics Canada, 15- to 19-year-olds (31%) and 20- to 24-year-olds (33%) report stress relief is the main reason for vaping, while 44% of those 25 and older report using e-cigarettes to reduce, quit, or avoid returning to smoking.
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Batson said the appealing fruit-themed flavors also appeal to young people.
“It completely masks how harmful the product actually is,” she says.
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While there is recognition that e-cigarettes may not be as harmful as smoking, Batson cautions against making that comparison.
“Smoking (cigarettes) is probably the most harmful activity. It's a product that, when used as intended, kills one in two people. So compared to that product, most things are not harmful,” she said.
Ostro said the insurance industry currently does not differentiate between cigarettes and e-cigarettes when determining premium rates.
“Whether you use nicotine products, whether you smoke cigarettes, whether you smoke a pack a day or use a nicotine pack once a month, you're a smoker. These are the rules of every insurance company in Canada. One use in the past 12 months is equivalent to smoking,” he said.
If you have two people with the exact same medical situation, and one has used nicotine and the other hasn't, the nicotine user will be charged nearly twice as much in premiums, Ostro said.
Batson said Canada is a leader when it comes to youth nicotine use and policy actions are needed to reduce that number.
“By attacking the attractiveness of the product and reducing access to the product, we can reduce its use. Things like reducing the highly appealing flavors that are currently sold in e-cigarette products could go a long way in reducing usage rates,” she said.
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