USPSTF: Clinicians Should Counsel Kids to Not Start Smoking

By the Editors

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is again recommending that primary care clinicians provide interventions like education and counseling to prevent school-aged children and adolescents from starting to use tobacco products. The grade B recommendation, in line with the group's 2013 guidance, includes e-cigarettes as a tobacco product for the first time.

Additionally, the USPSTF newly found that the evidence was insufficient to weigh the benefits and harms of primary care–based interventions for stopping tobacco use in children and teens who already smoke (I statement).

Editorialists write, "In discussions with children and their parents about tobacco, clinicians may consider asking about the use of vaping products, discussing the risks associated with vaping, and helping parents learn how to identify modern vaping products, some of which can easily be mistaken for computer USB drives because of their similar appearance." They add, "Interventions would ideally explain to youth that all tobacco products, including vaping products, contain potentially dangerous chemicals, and that e-cigarettes often contain nicotine, which is addictive and adversely affects healthy brain development."