Teens Aren't Using E-Cigarettes As Much, Report Says

E-cigarettes might not be as en vogue as you might have thought.

In a new report published Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the amount of teens smoking e-cigarettes has declined for the first time since 2011 – the same year the agency started tracking it.

The number dipped from 3 million in 2015 to 2.2 million in 2016. The number had seen an uptick before this from 2011 to 2015, invoking a public health panic.

NPR points out that the devices – which heat a liquid containing nicotine, producing a vapor that users inhale – are seen as not as harmful as typical tobacco cigarettes, but their prominence has led to much debate over their health effects. This includes some in the field who think e-cigarettes could stop people from using tobacco cigarettes in the first place or limiting how many cigarettes they smoke.

But the U.S. Surgeon General was clear last December, saying "e-cigarettes have the potential to cause lasting harm to the health of young users," notes NPR. Health officials are concerned the nicotine found in the devices could hurt developing brains, reports the Associated Press.

"We've made a lot of great progress, but we still have millions of youth that are using a product that is detrimental to their health," Brian King, deputy director for research translation in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, told NPR. This office created the report.

The Associated Press notes the study comes from a questionnaire approximately 20,000 students answer every year, from grades 6 to 12, honing in on those who claim to have used tobacco in the 30 day-period prior to the survey. The drop in e-cigarette use was consistent with an overall decline of various tobacco products in this age group.

As for what this means going forward, "Sustained efforts to implement proven tobacco control strategies focusing on all types of tobacco products are critical to reduce tobacco product use among U.S. youths," according to the report.

Using tobacco is the United States' leading cause of preventable death and disease, the CDC reports.