Many teenagers are tempted to try e-cigarettes , but few adopt the electronic devices as habit , a new study has found . Many teenagers are tempted to try e-cigarettes , but few become regular users , scientists have discovered . In fact , they found most of those teens who do try e-cigarettes are also smokers . This suggests young people are not using the electronic alternatives to try and quit their habits - nor are they getting hooked on them after initially trying them . Researchers examined data from two nationally representative surveys of primary and secondary schoolchildren from more than 150 schools across Wales . In all , 1,601 children aged 10 to 11 and 9,055 children aged 11 to 16 were quizzed about their use of e-cigarettes . Experts at Cardiff University found use of e-cigarettes at least once was more common than having smoked a conventional cigarette in all age groups , bar the oldest ( 15 to 16 year olds ) . Almost six per cent of 10 to 11 year olds had tried e-cigarettes , far more than had been tempted by tobacco ( 1.6 per cent ) . Meanwhile , 12 per cent of 11 to 16 year olds said they had used e-cigarettes , irrespective of gender , ethnic background , or family affluence . This is in contrast with the pattern seen in smokers , where all these factors come into play . The researchers said it suggests e-cigarettes may have a wider appeal across all sectors of the teenage population . The proportion of teens who used e-cigarettes , but who had never smoked , rose from 5 per cent among 10 to 11 year olds , to eight per cent among 15 to 16 year olds . But only 1.5 per cent of those aged 11 to 16 said they regularly used the electronic devices - defined as at least once a month . The researchers note their findings suggest ' e-cigarettes are unlikely to make a major , direct contribution to adolescent nicotine addiction at present ' . They note the World Health Organisation recognise there is little evidence as to whether e-cigarettes may or may not act as a gateway to conventional smoking . The odds of regular e-cigarette use were 100 times higher among current weekly smokers than among non-smokers , and 50 times higher among those who had smoked cannabis . The strong link between current smoking and e-cigarette use suggests that teens are not using these products to help them quit smoking , the researchers said . They admit that a lack of consensus about what constitutes ‘ use ’ of an e-cigarette presents something of a challenge for research in this area , and suggest that further much longer term studies to include the generation of young people who have grown up with e-cigarettes are needed before firmer conclusions can be drawn . The Cardiff University study noted most of those teens who do try e-cigarettes are also smokers , suggesting they are not using the electronic alternatives to try and quit their habits . Professor Peter Hajek , director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit , at Queen Mary University of London , said : 'The results of this large survey tally with all other available data and the picture is consistently reassuring . ' E-cigarettes do not attract non-smokers . ' Professor Paul Aveyard , at the University of Oxford , said : 'This study shows that teenagers do what teenagers do : they experiment with smoking and nowadays also with e-cigarettes . 'Consequently some people who have never tried tobacco cigarettes try e-cigarettes but only a few use them at least monthly , suggesting they are unattractive to people who do not smoke . 'About a fifth of regular smokers are using e-cigarettes , which is not a concern because e-cigarettes are less likely to harm users than are tobacco cigarettes . 'It does not show us anything about whether e-cigarettes help teenagers quit . It is hard to measure rare events but this survey was large enough to be sure that fewer than one in 200 never-smokers used an e-cigarette at least once a month . ' The study was published in BMJ Open .
Cardiff University scientists found few teenagers become regular users . Noted most teens who try e-cigarettes are already smokers . Suggest they are not using the electronic devices to help quit their habit .