Tobacco

Youth Smoking

Key Messages
Past Year Smoking
Smoking by Grade
Perceived Risks of Smoking

Key Messages

Tobacco use by youth has decreased over the past 20 years.
Students in grades 11 & 12 are significantly more likely to have smoked in the past year than students in lower grades.
Only one-third of high school students in Simcoe Muskoka perceive regular smoking as a great risk.

Past Year Smoking

According to the 2019 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS), 7% (4.8%, 9.2%) of students in grades 7-12 in Simcoe Muskoka smoked a tobacco cigarette in the past year.
This is similar to the provincial rate of 5% (4.5%, 5.7%) of students across Ontario who reported smoking a cigarette in the past year.
Smoking among Ontario students has been steadily decreasing since 1999. Smoking rates in 2019 were significantly lower than in any previous year.
Daily smoking was very uncommon among students, with only 1.5% (0.8%, 2.8%) of Simcoe Muskoka students and 1.6% (1.3%, 1.9%) of Ontario students reporting smoking at least one cigarette daily in the past 12 months.
There was no difference in smoking rates between male and female students.

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Smoking by Grade

Smoking rates were higher in Grade 11 & 12 students, with 14% (9.6%, 19.8%) of Simcoe Muskoka students in Grades 11 & 12 reporting smoking in the past year, compared to only 4% (1.9%, 7.1%) of students in Grades 9 & 10.

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Perceived Risks of Smoking

Only 31% (26.2%, 35.3%) of high school students in Simcoe Muskoka believe that regularly smoking tobacco cigarettes posts a great risk.
Simcoe Muskoka students were less unsure about the risk, with only 6% (3.8%, 8.8%) of Simcoe Muskoka high school students compared to 13% (11.6%, 14.4%) of Ontario high school students responding that they were “Not Sure” of the risk.

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