By contrast, usage among boys in the same age group has declined.
The findings were presented in the Polish parliament during a two-day conference on tobacco and alcohol addiction.
The event—titled "Tobacco and alcohol – do they control us, or do we control them?"—was organized by the Polska 2050-Third Way parliamentary group.
The study, a global youth tobacco survey, was conducted by the National Institute of Oncology in Warsaw and tracks use of tobacco and nicotine products use among teenagers.
The latest data, from 2022, show a worrying trend: the percentage of girls using e-cigarettes increased from 19 percent in 2016 to over 23 percent in 2022. Among boys, usage fell from 28 percent to 21 percent over the same period.
The findings highlight growing concerns about the impact of e-cigarettes on young people in Poland and have added urgency to efforts to curb their availability.
Dr. Paweł Koczkodaj, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Oncology, suggested that marketing strategies targeting young girls may be behind the rise.
"These data are concerning because they indicate that these products may be specifically marketed toward this group of users," he said. He added that adolescents aged 13 to 15 are particularly vulnerable to the influence of tobacco-related products.
The study also found that in 2022, more than 11 percent of Polish teenagers smoked traditional cigarettes, with girls slightly outpacing boys. This marks a decline from 2016, when over 15 percent of students in this age group smoked.
Access to tobacco products remains an issue, as 41 percent of teenagers who smoked reported purchasing cigarettes in a store. Two-thirds of those attempting to buy cigarettes were not stopped at the point of sale.
The conference in parliament coincided with the introduction of a government bill aimed at tightening regulations on e-cigarettes.
The proposed law would ban the sale to minors of all disposable and reusable e-cigarettes, including nicotine-free versions and nicotine pouches. Currently, only nicotine-containing e-cigarettes are restricted.
The bill also seeks to prohibit sales of nicotine-free e-cigarettes from vending machines and online, as well as banning their advertising.
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Poland for both men and women. It accounts for nearly one-third of all cancer deaths among men and around 17 percent among women.
Exposure to tobacco smoke is responsible for about 75 percent of all cancer-related deaths in the country, with around 90,000 people dying each year due to tobacco use, according to Dr. Koczkodaj.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP