Training satisfaction, competency gaps and well-being in gastroenterology residency in Spain: results of a national SEPD survey.

While youth cigarette smoking is at a historic low, the prevalence of vaping (e-cigarette use) among Canadian youth has increased dramatically over the last decade [] and continues to be high following the COVID-19 pandemic [, ]. According to recent nationally representative data, in 2023-24, 15% of students in grades 7–12 reported vaping in the past 30-days and 6.6% reported vaping daily []. There are possible negative health effects of vaping, including impacts on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems [–], and most vapes contain nicotine, which contributes to addiction and can alter adolescent brain development []. Interventions are urgently needed to prevent youth vaping, and the proposed research supports recent policy and position statements from Canadian organizations that emphasize the need to develop and evaluate programs that educate students about the risks of vaping [–]. Schools are an important and equitable setting for intervention because most youth spend the majority of their waking hours on weekdays in this environment. However, evidence indicates that many students witness their peers vaping at school, increasing their risk of experimenting with vapes [, ]. The school environment influences the likelihood that a student will vape [, ], and schools may take diverse approaches to prevent and address student vaping. School-based prevention programs are a common approach to motivate students to avoid harmful behaviours, and evidence indicates that well-designed tobacco prevention programs reduce the risk of smoking among students []. However, there are few school-based prevention programs targeting vaping and fewer that have undergone any evaluation of effectiveness [, ]. In Ontario, the current Health and Physical Education curriculum does not include any vaping-specific information, leaving it up to the discretion of educators to decide if vaping-related content should be covered, what content should be included, and how it should be taught. In the absence of evidence-informed programming, educators may implement programs that are not effective, or at worst, actually increase the risk of student vaping. It is evident that schools need urgent support in delivering evidence-informed interventions targeting vaping. Two reviews of vaping prevention programs identified eight school-based programs targeting adolescents, all of which originated in the United States (US) [, ], and only some of these programs had been evaluated. Results of these evaluations indicate that students increased their knowledge of the risks of vaping after exposure to the programs [–]. Few studies have investigated the impact of vaping prevention programs on adolescent behaviours, such as vaping initiation. Furthermore, the programs that exist and the evaluations that have been conducted tend to target middle school students (grades 6–8). However, longitudinal data indicate that almost one-third of high school students (grades 9–11) initiate vaping one-year later [], highlighting the need for prevention programs targeting high school students as well.