WHO: French youth smoke, drink less since pandemic

Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis are being consumed much less by French youth since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, though lockdowns are not the only reason for this downward trend, according to a recent study.

Read the original French article here.

These were the results of a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) study conducted in partnership with EnCLASS, published on Friday (16 December).

“These results show that the pandemic has accelerated the downward trend in alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use among French youth,” said Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in a press release.

Countries, including France, decided to close schools to limit the virus from spreading during the pandemic, leading to the disruption of studies and social lives of teenagers.

One consequence of that is the significant drop in tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use, according to the EnCLASS survey conducted on 2,000 14-year-old school students in 2021.

For example, alcohol consumption among young people is seeing a downward trend, with  levels in 2021 at their lowest since 2010, with most of the decrease (60%) occurring between 2018 and 2021.

However the study also found that alcohol remains the most popular harmful substance among young French people, with two out of three 14-year-old school students having consumed the substance by 2021.

“This positive development shows that young people’s social interactions can influence substance abuse, as well as the effectiveness of targeted policies and campaigns,” said Emmanuelle Godeau, one of the EnCLASS survey’s lead authors.

Lockdowns alone are not the only reason behind this trend, as it can also be explained by the “successful public policies and strategies, including the fight against the normalisation of tobacco use”, she points out in the WHO press release.

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Cigarettes and booze

Although the use of cannabis and alcohol by young people has decreased, the figures are most significant when it comes to tobacco consumption.

In 2021, only 30% of French teenagers had tried smoking cigarettes, compared with 37.5% in 2018 and almost 52% in 2010, according to the survey.

Among teenagers, the percentage of smokers – those who at least smoked one cigarette in the last 30 days – also fell from 13.6% in 2018 to 10.2% in 2021.

E-cigarette use, however, has remained stable during the pandemic, according to the study which considers the mounting popularity of e-cigarettes among French teenagers to be a “worrying” trend.

The proportion of lifetime e-cigarette use is now higher than lifetime tobacco use, the study found.

No passing the herb

Cannabis use is also decreasing, with only 9.1% of 14-year-old school students having tried it by 2021 – almost three times less than in 2010 (23.9%).

Kluge argues that the survey results demonstrate “both the importance of smart policies and the influence of our environment on our behaviour”.

Though the decrease in substance consumption among young people in France is partly to be attributed to COVID-19 measures like lockdowns, these have also had more serious consequences that could turn out to be even more damaging to their health.

“These findings raise the question of the extent to which the pandemic has affected the overall health of young people, and it is essential that policymakers continue to study these effects, whether they are beneficial or detrimental to the health of the population,” Kluge warned.

According to a report voted by the European Parliament in September, children and young people are particularly affected by this phenomenon. Between 10 and 20 percent of children and young people had mental health problems before the pandemic and the multiple confinements, a figure that has now risen to about 20-25 percent.

In her State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU mental health strategy would be presented in the second half of 2023.

“We need to improve access to mental health care, which is one of the principles of the European pillar of social rights,” agreed Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a debate with MEPs last October.

[Edited by Daniel Eck/Nathalie Weatherald]

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