Children who regularly vape are three times more likely to become smokers later in life, a bombshell report has claimed.
Figures have long shown how the proportion of kids using e-cigarettes has exploded amid the decline of traditional smoking, with more than a third of 16 to 18-year-olds now regularly inhaling them.
For comparison, less than one in ten were doing so a decade ago.
But British researchers now believe the gadgets could pose a worse threat to children than thought.
In the largest global review on vaping in young people to date, experts from the University of York and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), found that vapers were also more likely to smoke more frequently and intensely.
Regularly using e-cigs could also increase the odds of respiratory illness and substance abuse, the scientists said.
However, other experts urged caution over the findings noting many of the studies assessed were merely observational and could not prove that vaping alone caused such health issues.
In the research, the scientists analysed 56 reviews on 384 youth vaping studies.
