While e-cigarettes appear to be popular among teenagers, few of those who try them will become regular users, a new study suggests.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices designed to supply nicotine through inhaled water vapour. They continue to be at the centre of a major debate, with some people stating that they can help smokers to quit the habit and others insisting that they are potentially harmful to health.

Researchers in Wales set out to investigate the popularity and use of these devices among children and teenagers. They based their findings on two surveys of over 1,600 young people attending more than 150 primary and secondary schools in 2013 and 2014.

The participants were aged between 10 and 16.

The study found that among all of the age groups, except those aged 15 and 16, the participants were more likely to have smoked an e-cigarette than a conventional cigarette. For example, almost 6% of 10-11-year-olds had tried an e-cigarette compared to just 1.6% who had tried a conventional cigarette.

For those aged 11-16 years, over 12% admitted to trying e-cigarettes.

These figures were irrespective of the children's gender, ethnicity or their family's socioeconomic status.

When compared with conventional smoking patterns, the researchers from Cardiff University suggested that e-cigarettes may have more appeal among teenagers than conventional cigarettes.

However, they noted that even through over 12% of 11-16-year-olds had tried e-cigarettes, just 1.5% said they used them regularly - defined as at least once a month.

According to the researchers, these findings suggest that ‘e-cigarettes are unlikely to make a major direct contribution to adolescent nicotine addiction at present'.

They also pointed out that the chance of a young person becoming a regular user of these devices was 100 times higher among those who currently smoked conventional cigarettes on a weekly basis compared to non-smokers. It was also 50 times higher among those who had smoked cannabis.

The researchers added that this strong link between current conventional smoking and e-cigarette smoking indicates that young people are not using these products to help them quit the habit, which is what they are marketed for.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, BMJ Open.