Teen vapers are as likely to start smoking as kids growing up in 1970s

Teenagers who currently vape are as likely to start smoking as their wider peers in the 1970s, a study suggests.

The likelihood of taking up the habit is just 1.5 per cent among non-vapers but this rockets to 33 per cent among those who vape.

Researchers warn the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes could threaten the steady decline in the prevalence of smoking in this age group over the past 50 years.

They examined data on smoking among 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK in 1974, 1986 and 2018, during which time rates declined from 33 per cent to 12 per cent.

Meanwhile, the 2018 data shows 11 per cent of older teenagers were using vapes.