Passive Smoking And Children's Health

We know that smoking is bad for us, but passive smoking is particularly bad for our children. Sadly many children live in households where adults smoke in the house and so they are exposed to tobacco smoke.

If you're a parent who smokes around your children, you need to understand the full impact of what you are doing. A  report from the Royal College of Physicians and backed by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS) sets out to give you that information.

Despite England going smoke-free in public places in July 2007 and the vast majority of the public believing this has helped the nation’s health, there remains no legislation in place to protect children in their own homes, despite 80 per cent of children knowing that passive smoke is harmful to them.

The report found that two million UK children live in houses where they are exposed to second-hand smoke and that 300,000 children visit their GP and 9,500 are admitted to hospital every year as a result.

Second-hand smoke causes 22,600 new cases of asthma, 20,000 new cases of respiratory tract infection and 121,000 new cases of middle ear disease in children are reported each year.

The report also found that living in a household where one or more parents smokes more than doubles the risk of cot death and doubles the risk of meningitis.

The University of Bath’s Dr Anna Gilmore, who is a member of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS), and contributed to the report, said: “While the majority of parents do all they can to protect their children by not smoking in their homes and cars, there remains a significant number who do not take such precautions.

“This is particularly worrying as children are far more vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke due to their smaller lungs and still developing immune systems.”

In addition to acquired diseases, the report also details the resulting behaviours that children living in smoking households take with them into adult life, finding that children with parents who smoke are 90 per cent more likely to smoke themselves.

23,000 young people a year in England who are exposed to second-hand smoke in the home, start smoking by the time they are 15.

Professor John Britton, also from the UKCTCS, said: “Passive smoking is causing all sorts of diseases in our children which are completely avoidable and we need to take measures now."

This is not the only report that confirms the danger of passive smoking. Since the 2007 Arizona state lanti-smoking law took effect, admissions for ailments related to secondhand smoke have declined by as much as 33 percent. The American Journal of Public Health, May 2010).

Giving up smoking can be one of the bet things you can do for your own health, and if you have children it is undoubtedly a really positive thing you can do for them. Next time you reach for a cigarette think about you child and the importance of their health and well being - you wouldn't knowingly hurt them if it could be avoided, would you?

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