Young people who spend more than seven hours a day on social media are eight times more likely to smoke than non-users, and four times more likely to vape, says new research.
The research published by Imperial College used youth data from 10,808 participants aged 10-25 years in Understanding Society. The amount of social media use reported on a normal weekday was related to current cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use.
Researchers used a type of statistical analysis called Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) logistic regression to study the link between social media use and smoking cigarettes or using e-cigarettes. They made sure to account for other factors that might influence the results, such as age, gender, region within the UK, ethnicity, household income, and whether other people in the home smoke or use e-cigarettes.
In the study, 8.6% of the participants reported smoking cigarettes at least once, and 2.5% reported using e-cigarettes. Just over 1% used both.
The analysis revealed that only 2% of people who did not use social media reported smoking cigarettes. In contrast, 9.2% of people who used social media for one to three hours a day on weekdays reported smoking cigarettes. This shows a significant increase in the likelihood of smoking among those who use social media compared to those who do not.
In a detailed analysis of cigarette smoking, the study found that the likelihood of smoking increased with more social media use across all income groups. However, the increase was more pronounced among the richest income group compared to the lowest income group. Specifically, for the higher income group using social media for seven or more hours a day.
The researchers said there was “compelling evidence that vape companies are using social media to market their products. The content that social media users are exposed to is to a substantial extent algorithmically controlled, both through targeted advertising and by the promotion of material that maximises engagement in order to increase revenue to the platform. This can be controlled.
“In general, we think that algorithms should not be promoting products to individuals that they cannot legally buy. Legislation and enforcement around this and other corporate determinants of health concerns should be considered a core part of online safety and child protection.”
For the full article: https://thorax.bmj.com/content/thoraxjnl/early/2024/04/18/thorax-2023-220569.full.pdf
