Kids Health Matters Episode 2: Vaping

In this episode of Kids Health Matters, out today, we lift the lid on vaping to help parents feel confident in tackling one of the hottest health topics of our time.

How addictive are vapes? What damage can vaping cause? Should adults be concerned about the impact of vaping around children?

Our guest experts team up to tackle these questions and:

• recommend strategies to discuss vaping with young people
• explain the harms of vaping use for children and teens and
• discuss how schools are responding to concerns about vaping.

Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) Respiratory and Sleep Consultant Dr Adelaide Withers joins Child and Adolescent Community Health (CACH) nurse Kellie, who works as both a school health nurse and child health nurse, to discuss the harmful side effects in simple, easy to understand language.

Dr Adelaide, who also co-hosts the episode with broadcaster Dani Shuey, outlines why it’s ‘cool to quit’ and dispels the myth that vaping is safer than smoking.

“It’s important to understand the toxic chemicals in vapes can cause irreversible and even fatal damage to lungs and airways,” Dr Adelaide said.

She explains her concern about the impact of vaping on healthy kids, not just on children with respiratory problems.

“In our clinical work at PCH we are noticing the effects of vaping on younger children and we also worry about the long-term health impacts on children exposed to vaping,” Dr Adelaide said.

“It’s important to keep young lungs healthy because vaping can cause long-term damage to growing lungs…and even severe lung injuries,” she said.

Our guests also discuss:

• what age group is most at risk
• the impacts of vaping on a young person’s ability to exercise and
• the sneaky tactics used in the marketing of vapes to teens.

Most importantly parents are urged to be informed, be aware and start as early as possible to have age-appropriate conversations with your child or teen.

Kellie shares a different perspective based on strategies used within schools to educate students about the harms of vaping.

As a school health nurse, she sees the impact of vaping daily and encounters some students who struggle to make it through a school day without a vape.

“In my role it’s the addictive nature of vapes which is most concerning and the high concentrations of nicotine in the vapes,” Kellie said.

Adults who vape are also warned about the risks of leaving vapes where they can be accessed by youngsters because there have been instances of nicotine poisoning in younger children.

The Kids Health Matters podcast series provides trusted advice on common child health concerns from leading experts at the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS).

Further information about the podcast series can be found here.

Kids Health Matters is proudly produced by CAHS which includes Neonatology, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Perth Children's Hospital.