Hookah Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Public Health Challenge

Abstract

Hookah or waterpipe smoking is a traditional method of tobacco use, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region (1). Using hookah is spreading worldwide, particularly among students and youths (1-3). Hookah smoking is often considered a fun, harmless, and lighter version of smoking without its risks. There is an idea that hookah is safer than cigarette smoking and consequently, the hookah smoking has been steadily spreading among the youth and college students (3-5). On the other hand, the attraction of this tobacco use method for the youth is due to its pleasant smooth smoke, social acceptance, appealing flavors, its relatively low cost, and the perception of reduced harm (6). The epidemiologic studies have shown that the hookah smoking is probably the second global tobacco epidemic after the cigarette smoking (6, 7); however, the previous assessments showed that the prevalence of current (ie, preceding month) hookah smoking ranges from 5% to 17% among American adolescents, 6% to 34% among Middle Eastern adolescents, and 15.6% among Iranian adolescents (5, 6, 8). Although both the long-term and short-term health consequences of hookah smoking are brought in the literature, the information about its negative short-term and long-term effects on health has not been provided adequately to the general population (4, 7, 8). However, to provide information with regard to alarming and harmful effects of hookah using, it should be determined whether it is safe or not.