BRITAIN must crack down on vaping kids, Sir Chris Whitty warns.
The straight-talking health chief said it is “utterly unacceptable” that e-cigarettes are being marketed to children with bright colours and jazzy flavours.
Experts say around one in 14 kids aged 11 to 15 use vapes, which contain addictive nicotine.
They fear youngsters are put onto the habit by trendy social media videos.
Sir Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical officer, received a knighthood for guiding Britain through the Covid crisis.
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He told MPs on the Health Committee: “Vaping has an important role in helping smokers who are addicted to come off smoking.
“But I think everyone agrees that marketing vaping – an addictive product with unknown consequences for developing minds – to children is utterly unacceptable.
“Yet there is no doubt it’s happening. The rates of vaping have doubled in the last couple of years among children and that is an appalling situation.”
Ministers in Scotland are considering a ban on disposable vapes and one Elf Bar product has already been taken off sale for containing too much nicotine.
Scientists say e-cigs are safer than tobacco but they still do not fully understand the risks.
Sir Chris said some brands are “clearly marketed at children” and it should not be allowed.
He added: “We need to be much more serious in trying everything we can to reduce vaping and smoking in children, while doing what we can to make vaping available for people who need it to get out of smoking.”
Sir Chris added that the Government needs to make bigger efforts to slash smoking and obesity rates in a bid to reduce cancers in the UK.