University of Queensland, Life Ed bolster education efforts for schoolchildren in war on vaping

E-cigarette companies are using insidious methods to preach to Queensland schoolchildren and circumvent advertising laws.

E-cigarette companies using social media influencers to preach to Queensland kids and circumvent advertising laws will be the target of new federally funded vaping research.

Another weapon joining the war on vaping will be Life Ed ambassador Healthy Harold, who will roll out a fresh education program for Queensland primary school students this year.

Dr Carmen Lim, from the University of Queensland National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, received almost $660,000 in National Health and Medical Research Council funding to run a five-year program on the influence of pro-vaping social media material on young people.

The program will be an extension of her PhD research on pro-vaping TikTok clips, during which she found clips with more than 78 million views.

“E-cigarette advertising in Australia is not permitted, but I think e-cigarette companies are trying to get around these regulations by using social media influencers to review their products and advertise them in an indirect way through short videos,” Dr Lim said.

“A lot of these videos do not have age restrictions, so adolescents can be exposed.”

Dr Lim hopes to develop social media content to support young people in quitting vaping.

“The first phase will be continuing to collect data on pro-vaping material, we will get young people into our lab to scroll through their feeds and see what they’re exposed to,” she said.

“The second phase will be working with young people to understand the kind of material they would need to deter them from vaping.

“The third phase will be using the findings of phase one and two to develop social intervention strategies.”

Meanwhile, in an Australian first for primary school students, health education charity Life Ed will deliver a vaping program for year 5 and 6 students in Queensland in 2024.

Life Ed Queensland chief executive Michael Fawsitt said the module was developed last year and trialled in term 4, 2023.

He said it aimed to cut through the misinformation around vaping and help kids understand the risks and social influences before they make the transition to high school.

“Like any issue these days it is amplified on social media, the reach is so great. It definitely plays a role. But it could also be a source of positive information as well,” Mr Fawsitt said.

“We’re certainly facing different challenges with this generation because of technology and that is why we need to move faster.”

Mr Fawsitt said Life Ed had revamped their smoking and tobacco module, which had been declining in popularity in schools, to include vaping.

The Take a Breath vaping module resulted in a 40 per cent increase in participation among students at Queensland schools last year.