Nicotine pouches in Kenya.
Kenya has made significant progress in tobacco control, yet tobacco and nicotine use among adolescents continues to rise as a silent threat, one that places our nation’s youngest population at risk of addiction, long-term disease, and preventable death. The newly released Kenya Data on Youth and Tobacco (DaYTA) Survey 2024 now gives us the clearest national picture to date of the extent of this problem.
As a youth public health advocate deeply invested in tobacco control, these findings are both alarming and energizing. They reinforce what many of us working in the field have long suspected: Kenyan adolescents are being targeted, exposed, and increasingly drawn into early experimentation with harmful products, some as early as five or six years old.
This article highlights the key findings, why the youth must be the central focus, and the urgent policy and societal actions required to protect Kenya’s next generation.
The DaYTA Survey sampled 6,435 adolescents aged 10–17 years from 16 counties, making it one of the largest, most representative adolescent tobacco surveys ever conducted in Kenya.
About 6.46% of adolescents have ever used a tobacco or nicotine product, equivalent to ~622,000 adolescents nationally. About 2.52% are current users, around 244,000 adolescents actively using these products.
Ever use of any tobacco product stands at 6.20% (598,000 adolescents), while current use is 2.47% (239,000 adolescents), with boys recording significantly higher ever-use rates (8.84%) compared to girls (4.20%). Notably, out-of-school adolescents show the highest vulnerability, with 24.26% having ever used tobacco products and 17.59% currently using them. Adolescents with a smoking family member were reportedly far more likely to use tobacco.
Manufactured cigarettes were initiated as early as 6 years old, with roll-your-own cigarettes starting at 5 years, while smokeless tobacco initiation averages 9.8 years, well before many children reach upper primary. Cigarettes remain the most widely used product with 3.23% ever use, followed closely by smokeless tobacco at 3.36%, and although novel products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products show lower overall use, their uptake is steadily rising, particularly in urban areas.
Despite advertising bans, 1 in 10 adolescents still reported seeing tobacco promotions at points of sale, with exposure highest among urban youth and those from wealthier households.
Only 44% of adolescents who had ever used tobacco understood its health effects, with in-school adolescents showing significantly higher awareness (54.4%) compared to out-of-school youth (10.8%). Encouragingly, 45% of current users intend to quit within the next 12 months, driven largely by health concerns and family disapproval.
Young people are the most profitable future market for the tobacco and nicotine industry. Their brains are still developing, making them highly susceptible to addiction and peer influence. With 41.5% of Kenya’s population being youth, the industry recognizes the long-term economic value of capturing this demographic.
The DaYTA 2024 Survey provides a clear roadmap for reducing adolescent tobacco and nicotine use, calling for urgent national action. Kenya must update the Tobacco Control Act (2007) to regulate e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products, close loopholes that allow sales near schools, and strengthen penalties for retailers who violate youth protection laws. Enforcement should be enhanced through stronger monitoring of point-of-sale advertising, especially in urban retail spaces.
Schools should integrate evidence-based tobacco prevention education into the curriculum, while nationwide awareness efforts must invest in digital-first campaigns on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and radio, including messaging that counters myths about “safe” or “less harmful” products. A multi-sectoral approach is essential, engaging ministries beyond health such as Education, ICT, Interior, and Trade, and supporting youth-led organizations to drive grassroots mobilization. Finally, empowering parents with tools to discuss tobacco use and mobilizing communities to recognize early signs of use and intervene supportively will strengthen the protective environment around adolescents.
The DaYTA 2024 findings present both a warning and an opportunity. over 622,000 adolescents have experimented with tobacco, and initiation begins in early childhood. Yet nearly half of current users want to quit, proof that change is possible if support systems are strengthened.
Kenya’s young people are our most powerful resource. Protecting them from tobacco and nicotine addiction is not just a public health responsibility, it is a national priority.
The writer is a
Public Health Advocate, Tobacco Control Champion.
