()Did you know that one in four high school students use e-cigarettes.

These products are used by 5.3 million middle school and high school students nationwide. This means that even if they don’t use e-cigarettes themselves, your kids almost certainly know someone who does. The U.S. has seen a more than twofold increase in youth e-cigarette usage between 2017 and 2019. The problem was declared an emergency by the U.S. Surgeon General “epidemic.”

To protect their children from this growing danger, parents need to be aware of the prevalence of e-cigarettes and the health risks they present. You can disguise e-cigarettes as watches, flash drives, or even pens. While these disguises can help children hide their products from teachers and parents, it is important to know what to look out for.

E-cigarettes can also be sold in many kid-friendly flavors such as gummy bear, banana ice, mango, and mint. According to studies, youth who smoke e-cigarettes use flavored products most often. “because they come in flavors I like.”E-cigarettes can contain large amounts of nicotine. This makes them very addictive. Juul is a well-known brand that delivers the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.

A 2016 Surgeon General’s reportIt was concluded that nicotine use in youth, even e-cigarettes is dangerous, addictive, and can cause brain damage, which affects attention, memory, and learning. E-cigarettes may also expose users e-cigarettes to carcinogenic and harmful chemicals, such as formaldehyde. According to studies, e-cigarette users who are younger than 18 years old are more likely become smokers.

Health advocates call for a complete ban on all flavors of e-cigarettes to prevent youth use. Trump might have made an announcement about restricting certain flavors in e-cigarettes. However, this policy has loopholes which exempt thousands more flavored products that are appealing to children. These include cheap disposable ecigarettes that come in bright colors, sweet flavors, and nicotine liquids in almost every flavor. To protect our children, it is necessary to completely ban the use of flavored e-cigarettes.

This is quite scary news. But there are people who are working to combat this problem. A growing number states and cities are passing laws that ban flavored e-cigarettes, and other flavored tobacco products. The Congress is currently considering legislation to do the exact same. “Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act.”Contact your elected officials at all levels to ask them to take steps to protect children. It’s important to talk to your kids about the health risks of e-cigarettesEstablish a dialogue with them. Be familiar with the product, the risks, the warning signs, and ensure that you are able to protect your children from this increasing health crisis in America.

For more information, please visit tobacofreekids.org/ecigarettes.