Crackdown on vape adverts targeting kids – what parents can do

Expert advice on how to approach conversations around vaping with children.

The Government is cracking down on vape advertising targeted towards children (Alamy/PA)

The Government is cracking down on vape marketing targeted towards children and young people, Rishi Sunak has said.

The news comes days after the Prime Minister spoke about his concerns his own daughters would potentially be targeted by vape marketing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Ministers have now pledged to close a loophole allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England, amid concerns over the proportion of children trying e-cigarettes.

There will also be a review into banning retailers selling “nicotine-free” vapes to under-18s, and the Government will look at the rules on issuing fines to shops that illegally sell vapes to children.

The Prime Minister said he was “deeply concerned” about an increase in children vaping and was “shocked by reports of illicit vapes containing lead getting into the hands of schoolchildren”.

Sunak said: “That is why I am taking further action today to clamp down on rogue firms who unlawfully target our children with these products.

“The marketing and the illegal sales of vapes to children is completely unacceptable and I will do everything in my power to end this practice for good.”

Why is vaping bad for children’s health?

“We could argue vaping doesn’t have the amount of toxins cigarettes have – up to 70 of these cause cancer – but vaping is not completely harmless,” says GP Dr Anita Raja.

“It’s very important to protect your organs, especially your lungs and brain. Vaping can be particularly detrimental to people under the age of 18 who are still developing.”

Most vapes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can cause can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, flow of blood to the heart and a narrowing of the arteries.

“It can become very difficult to get off the nicotine – so why would you want to be addicted at such a young age?” Raja asks.

The other problem with vaping is that experts don’t yet fully understand the long-term risks because it’s such a new phenomenon, she adds. “Let’s not forget when cigarettes were introduced many decades ago we didn’t know that they could cause cancers and long-term irreversible lung damage.”

How to talk to your children

“First up, learn about the facts of vaping yourself. Get information from a reliable source,” says parenting expert Liat Hughes Joshi, author of Help Your Child Cope With Change.

“So that when you do end up discussing this with your teenager you’re coming at it from a place of knowledge and you’ll feel more confident.”

The conversation could be tricky, so approach it calmly. She advises: “Choose your time in place carefully. Don’t pounce on your teenager when they’re in the middle of something or when they are stressed about an exam. Choose a time where you’re both feeling relatively relaxed.”

“Instead of telling them not to, what you are much better doing is giving them that information about the real risks and the downsides of vaping, so that they can hopefully make a decision of their own which is the right decision,” Hughes Joshi says.

“It’s definitely worth talking to them about ideas around [peer pressure] and giving them the confidence to push back and say, ‘I don’t have to copy all my peers if they are vaping’.”

Similarly, if you know or suspect that your child has already vaped, try not to fly off the handle.

“Don’t automatically scold them,” says private GP Dr Suhail Hussain. “Find out why they tried it, and then listen. Be understanding and informative, not angry and disappointed that they would do this in the first place.”

What about if you vape yourself but don’t want your child to follow suit? “We need to lead by example,” says Raja, who believes vaping should be used only as a way for adults to quit smoking.

“It is almost impossible to convince your children to not vape if they see you doing it. If you don’t want your child to vape, then you shouldn’t vape, or certainly not vape in front of them.”