World No Tobacco Day 2026: Protecting Young People from Nicotine Addiction
When it comes to protecting young people from the risks of tobacco, it is critical to first understand what products they are using, how often they are using them and what factors are influencing those decisions. Data and monitoring are two of the most important tools we have to both understand youth and young adult tobacco and nicotine use and inform public health action.
Through the CDC Foundation’s Monitoring Tobacco Product Use in the U.S. project, we are generating data, identifying emerging risks and providing the timely data needed to help public health professionals take steps to prevent addiction.
Why Data and Monitoring Matter
The tobacco and nicotine market is evolving rapidly. New products, flavors and marketing tactics continue to emerge, making ongoing monitoring more important than ever. Our work monitors trends in tobacco and nicotine product use, which products young people are using and how often, how appealing flavors influence uptake of these products and the types of products being marketed to youth and young adults.
Findings from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)’s 2024 Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey show that one in four middle and high school students who reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days reported daily use. Similarly, data from the CDC Foundation-led Tobacco Epidemic Evaluation Network (TEEN+) Study in 2025, shows that on days that they vape, 37.7 percent of youth ages 13-17 and 43.1 percent of young adults ages 18-27 reported picking up their e-cigarette more than 10 times per day.
Since frequent nicotine use is a warning sign of nicotine addiction, such findings provide important insights and paint a clear picture of the work policymakers, educators, parents, healthcare professionals and communities must do to protect youth and young adults from nicotine addiction.
E-cigarette Marketing and Access
Flavors remain one of the strongest drivers of youth e-cigarette use. According to data from the TEEN+ Study in 2025, 92.5 percent of youth and young adults who ever used e-cigarettes started with a non-tobacco flavored product.
In addition, 96.3 percent of youth and 94.2 percent of young adults who report current e-cigarette use also report using non-tobacco flavors in 2025. Fruit, candy, dessert, mint and cooling flavors dominate the market and are the most common e-cigarette flavors used among youth and young adults.
Disposable e-cigarettes now make up the overwhelming majority of products on the market. These products often contain large amounts of nicotine, are sold at low prices and frequently come in youth-appealing designs and flavors like fruit, sweet or mint.
As of May 2026, the FDA has authorized 45 e-cigarette products to be marketed in the U.S. However, the majority of e-cigarette products, most of which are fruit, sweet or mint flavors are sold without FDA authorization.
World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day on May 31 is a reminder that strong data and monitoring remain essential as tobacco products continue to evolve and are marketed to attract youth and young adults. By understanding the products shaping today’s market and driving appeal, we can respond more effectively and better protect this and future generations from nicotine addiction.
Funding is provided by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use through the CDC Foundation with a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC Foundation.
