A recent provincial survey has produced some startling results for northern B.C. youth.
According to the 2023 BC Adolescent Health Survey from the McCreary Centre Society, youth in northern parts of the province had the highest percentage of nicotine use, for both vaping and smoking, in all of B.C. The survey included three Health Service Delivery Areas for the North鈥擭ortheast, Northern Interior and Northwest鈥攁nd all three regions produced much higher rates than the provincial averages.
Forty-one per cent of youth in the north have vaped, compared to the provincial average of 26 per cent, and almost half of female youth were 10 per cent more likely to have tried vaping than males. Northwest youth were the most likely to have vaped at 47 per cent, significantly higher than Northeast and Northern Interior youth, who were at 41 and 37 per cent respectively.
Among the youth who vaped, 81 per cent started before the age of 15, with 26 per cent reporting 13 as the most common age they first vaped鈥攖he same age most frequently reported throughout the province. Only Northeast youth had a lower age reported more frequently, which was 12, as they were more likely than other regions to have first vaped before 13-years-old.
Almost two-thirds, 65 per cent, of youth who tried vaping had vaped in the past 30 days, with similar rates in all three northern regions, and females were again more likely to have vaped in the past 30 days with 70 per cent compared to 61 per cent of males. Eight per cent of youth who vaped in the past 30 days had used a product to help stop them from vaping during that period.
Almost 80 per cent of youth who vaped daily vaped within 30 minutes of waking up, with 49 per cent vaping within only five minutes.
One quarter of northern youth had smoked, which included two per cent who smoked tobacco exclusively and 22 per cent who both smoked and vaped. Eighteen per cent of youth vaped exclusively. Females were more likely to have tried smoking than males with 27 per cent compared to 22 per cent.
The provincial rate for youth who have tried smoking was 15 per cent, while the rate among northern youth was 26 per cent, with 30 per cent in the Northwest, 26 in the Northeast and 21 in the Northern Interior.
"Provincially, smoking rates were lower than five and 10 years earlier," the survey stated. "In the North, rates were comparable to 2018, but lower than a decade earlier (30% in 2013)."
Thirty-three per cent of youth who ever smoked waited until they were 15 or older to do so, a decrease compared to the 39 per cent in 2018.
Among youth who smoked, 46 per cent had done so in the past 30 days, 11 per cent of whom used a product to help them stop smoking during this time, excluding vapes. Northwest youth were more likely to have smoked in the past month, with 53 per cent compared to 43 per cent of Northeast youth. Rates of smoking on at least 20 days in the past month were similar between all three northern regions.
Northern youth had also used a variety of tobacco products in the past month, including cigarettes at 11 per cent, cigars and cigarillos at three per cent, chewing tobacco also at three, and a hookah at 2 per cent.
"Research is needed to determine the causal factors behind higher rates of smoking and vaping in northern B.C., relative to the rest of the province," Northern Health stated.
