Shocking research.
Discussion
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4570665.stm[/url]
Smokers 'ignore risk to children'
Many parents are ignoring warnings about smoking near their children, NHS research suggests.
Almost two-fifths (39%) of teenagers quizzed were exposed to smoke in the home when younger, while 13% were exposed to it in cars.
The poll of 500 children coincides with the relaunch of adverts showing the risks of smoking near children.
They were highlighted by Sol Rickman, five, who has the "lungs of a pensioner" due to his mother's habit.
Sol developed breathing difficulties and when surgeons operated on him they said his lungs looked like those of a lifelong smoker. His mother has since kicked her 20-a-day habit.
The NHS television adverts show young children and babies appearing to breathe out tobacco smoke, while new print adverts show a child's bottle filled with smoke.
In the ICM poll, almost half (49%) of teenagers said their parents or relatives smoked near them when they were younger - 45% wished they had not.
Other research showed almost half of adult smokers (45%) admitted smoking in the car with children present, while almost a third (28%) smoked in the same room.
Yet, of the 1,078 adult smokers questioned for the Central Office of Information study last year, 60% said they disapproved of smoking near children.
Smoking around children has been linked to an increased likelihood of cot death, bacterial meningitis, asthma attacks and other breathing problems.
Children who live with smokers are also more likely to need tonsils or adenoids removed.
Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "It is important that we increase the public's awareness of the real health risks to children from second-hand smoke - not merely the discomfort caused by being in a smoky atmosphere."
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Asthma UK charity, said: "I think parents who smoke would be truly shocked if they knew how much their habit can harm their children.
"Young children are very sensitive to cigarette smoke - it can trigger asthma attacks and cause asthma in children who were previously healthy.
"More and more research is showing that children of smokers suffer even if their parents don't smoke in the same room as them.
"The best thing a smoking parent can do for their child is to quit."
NHS Smoking Helpline adviser Alexia Paterson said it was "worrying" that many children quizzed said their parents smoked in a car while they were there.
"You can reduce children's travel sickness and make a positive difference to their health by avoiding smoking when they travel with you."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4570665.stm
Published: 2005/05/23 00:27:11 GMT
Smokers 'ignore risk to children'
Many parents are ignoring warnings about smoking near their children, NHS research suggests.
Almost two-fifths (39%) of teenagers quizzed were exposed to smoke in the home when younger, while 13% were exposed to it in cars.
The poll of 500 children coincides with the relaunch of adverts showing the risks of smoking near children.
They were highlighted by Sol Rickman, five, who has the "lungs of a pensioner" due to his mother's habit.
Sol developed breathing difficulties and when surgeons operated on him they said his lungs looked like those of a lifelong smoker. His mother has since kicked her 20-a-day habit.
The NHS television adverts show young children and babies appearing to breathe out tobacco smoke, while new print adverts show a child's bottle filled with smoke.
In the ICM poll, almost half (49%) of teenagers said their parents or relatives smoked near them when they were younger - 45% wished they had not.
Other research showed almost half of adult smokers (45%) admitted smoking in the car with children present, while almost a third (28%) smoked in the same room.
Yet, of the 1,078 adult smokers questioned for the Central Office of Information study last year, 60% said they disapproved of smoking near children.
Smoking around children has been linked to an increased likelihood of cot death, bacterial meningitis, asthma attacks and other breathing problems.
Children who live with smokers are also more likely to need tonsils or adenoids removed.
Public health minister Caroline Flint said: "It is important that we increase the public's awareness of the real health risks to children from second-hand smoke - not merely the discomfort caused by being in a smoky atmosphere."
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Asthma UK charity, said: "I think parents who smoke would be truly shocked if they knew how much their habit can harm their children.
"Young children are very sensitive to cigarette smoke - it can trigger asthma attacks and cause asthma in children who were previously healthy.
"More and more research is showing that children of smokers suffer even if their parents don't smoke in the same room as them.
"The best thing a smoking parent can do for their child is to quit."
NHS Smoking Helpline adviser Alexia Paterson said it was "worrying" that many children quizzed said their parents smoked in a car while they were there.
"You can reduce children's travel sickness and make a positive difference to their health by avoiding smoking when they travel with you."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4570665.stm
Published: 2005/05/23 00:27:11 GMT
Cotty, if he was trolling this site he'd be on the 'Speed kills'/'planet killing' bandwagon.
I agree with him. My Dad has smoked most of his life including while I was a baby, and whilst it doesn't appear to have done me any harm, I do feel angry when I see parents smoking in front of young children, and worse - pregnant mothers (almost exclusively chavs) smoking.
It's not the worst thing to do whilst bringing up children, but it's up there.
I agree with him. My Dad has smoked most of his life including while I was a baby, and whilst it doesn't appear to have done me any harm, I do feel angry when I see parents smoking in front of young children, and worse - pregnant mothers (almost exclusively chavs) smoking.
It's not the worst thing to do whilst bringing up children, but it's up there.
So far every response has agreed that smoking in fron of children is wrong and I totally agree so whats the point of the thread unless Brucibabie is trying to rattle the cage
Im listening and I want to give up, I just need to sort out a session on the Alan Carr thing, but im giving up for my own reasons not because it gets rammed down my throat every five minutes
90% of my smoking is done in my house which does not affect anyone else, the rest is either outside or in a pub in the evenings where there should not be children.
deltafox said:
Lol cotty is a full paid up member of the "na na naaaaa im not listening " club.
Im listening and I want to give up, I just need to sort out a session on the Alan Carr thing, but im giving up for my own reasons not because it gets rammed down my throat every five minutes
deltafox said:
If he wants to smoke fine....inflicting it on others who hate carcinogen breath is just undemocratic...
90% of my smoking is done in my house which does not affect anyone else, the rest is either outside or in a pub in the evenings where there should not be children.
[quote=bruciebabie
They were highlighted by Sol Rickman, five, who has the "lungs of a pensioner" due to his mother's habit.
Sol developed breathing difficulties and when surgeons operated on him they said his lungs looked like those of a lifelong smoker. His mother has since kicked her 20-a-day habit.
[/quote]
OK, I'll bite.
I don't disagree that smoking is not the most pleasant of habits. I say that as an Ex-smoker. I also agree that there are many worthy reasons for not smoking when around children.
However the research referred to here seems to be at odds with most other studies. And given that smoking has been in decline for many years - at one time probably a majority of parents would be smoking 20 a day each - we might have expected clear historic evidence that this supposed second hand smoke had caused significant childhood illnesses in the past and the these problems are now receding.
What we are actually be told is that things like asthma are increasing. With a whole host of reasons given for this - in fact just about anything is 'linked' to asthma and most of the other problems.
Now the case of little Sol is sad but unless he is very sensitive, his mother is lying about 20 a day, he comes into contact with othere who are far heavier smokers or there are other confounding factors, my guess would be that this young person is having his anonymity removed at the behest of a group of people who have a very specific axe to grind. And they care more about that than Sol, so having found a willing parent (how fortunate) with a fairly photogenic child in a sort of Victorian sickly child way, they have pressed on for their own purposes.
We read in the report a lot of numbers which are meaningless and only based on anecdotal evidence.
We are not told if young Sol and his mother live on a main road in an inner city and spend 22 hours a day in a basement flat deep in diesel fumes and carcinogenic exhaust particles. Or maybe Sol nicks his mothers ciggies? If they are saying his lungs are as bad as a pensioner who has been a long term smoker - what must his mother's lungs be like?
This entire 'report' and its conclusion is probably more questionable than any similar press releases that have been part of the Pro speed camera and speed kills campaigns. So if you choose to accept this one without question it would only be right to accept the stuff released by the anti-car brigades, also without question.
In the same way that many on PH believe that the conclusions of the scamera supported propaganda outpourings are wide of the mark and, therefore, result in inappropriate and possibly even dangerous decision about future road safety by focussing on the wrong problems, there seems to be no reason to think that this second hand smoke issue is any more realistic. Indeed one has to wonder if there is any realism possible. It would be really sad if any increase in diagnosed childhood illnesses was labelled as a smoking related problem and addressed as such but was in fact caused by something else.
Presumably that would lead to the real cause being ignored and so compound a problem that the most focused believers imagined almost solved.
It all sounds so familiar.
They were highlighted by Sol Rickman, five, who has the "lungs of a pensioner" due to his mother's habit.
Sol developed breathing difficulties and when surgeons operated on him they said his lungs looked like those of a lifelong smoker. His mother has since kicked her 20-a-day habit.
[/quote]
OK, I'll bite.
I don't disagree that smoking is not the most pleasant of habits. I say that as an Ex-smoker. I also agree that there are many worthy reasons for not smoking when around children.
However the research referred to here seems to be at odds with most other studies. And given that smoking has been in decline for many years - at one time probably a majority of parents would be smoking 20 a day each - we might have expected clear historic evidence that this supposed second hand smoke had caused significant childhood illnesses in the past and the these problems are now receding.
What we are actually be told is that things like asthma are increasing. With a whole host of reasons given for this - in fact just about anything is 'linked' to asthma and most of the other problems.
Now the case of little Sol is sad but unless he is very sensitive, his mother is lying about 20 a day, he comes into contact with othere who are far heavier smokers or there are other confounding factors, my guess would be that this young person is having his anonymity removed at the behest of a group of people who have a very specific axe to grind. And they care more about that than Sol, so having found a willing parent (how fortunate) with a fairly photogenic child in a sort of Victorian sickly child way, they have pressed on for their own purposes.
We read in the report a lot of numbers which are meaningless and only based on anecdotal evidence.
We are not told if young Sol and his mother live on a main road in an inner city and spend 22 hours a day in a basement flat deep in diesel fumes and carcinogenic exhaust particles. Or maybe Sol nicks his mothers ciggies? If they are saying his lungs are as bad as a pensioner who has been a long term smoker - what must his mother's lungs be like?
This entire 'report' and its conclusion is probably more questionable than any similar press releases that have been part of the Pro speed camera and speed kills campaigns. So if you choose to accept this one without question it would only be right to accept the stuff released by the anti-car brigades, also without question.
In the same way that many on PH believe that the conclusions of the scamera supported propaganda outpourings are wide of the mark and, therefore, result in inappropriate and possibly even dangerous decision about future road safety by focussing on the wrong problems, there seems to be no reason to think that this second hand smoke issue is any more realistic. Indeed one has to wonder if there is any realism possible. It would be really sad if any increase in diagnosed childhood illnesses was labelled as a smoking related problem and addressed as such but was in fact caused by something else.
Presumably that would lead to the real cause being ignored and so compound a problem that the most focused believers imagined almost solved.
It all sounds so familiar.
LongQ said:Good man! Of course most people already accept that smoking is bad you and others around you. The thing I fond most strange is that we are given Sol as an example. I mean, quite frankly, who here really gives a flying f
[a whole load of sense]
k about Sol? (I'm damn sure nobody involved in the story does). Yes, I feel for him, but there's nothing I can do and there's nothing I could have done in the past to help him. The impression I get from a story like this is that Sol's mother (and presumably father, if he's around) are chavs - he's called Sol for God's sake, let along the smoking thing. Personally I think it's time we stopped pandering to such f
kwits and put the lot of them out of our misery. The other thing I read from the story is a bunch of left-wing lentilists trying, again, to stop responsible people from following their established lifestyle on the basis that some chavs are not capable of copying elements of that lifestyle in a responsible manner. Next thing you know you won't be able to go shopping in the wet unless you have an umbrella! (Oh, s
t we're there already).Plotloss said:
Could very easily have the title:
'
Absolute non-news.
Whatever you do there will always be cretins.
I must admit that the BBC messed up an important piece by tring to introduce human interest instead of concentrating on the facts. Which are that most smokers are totally inconsiderate and go round poisoning children.
For a more scientific look at the facts try:[url]www.doctorsandtobacco.org/[/url]
diddyman said:
... most smokers are totally inconsiderate and go round poisoning children.
Would that be 99% or 99.5%, Bruce?
See above:
In the ICM poll, almost half (49%) of teenagers said their parents or relatives smoked near them when they were younger - 45% wished they had not.
Other research showed almost half of adult smokers (45%) admitted smoking in the car with children present, while almost a third (28%) smoked in the same room.
bruciebabe said:
bruciebabe said:
... most smokers are totally inconsiderate and go round poisoning children.
Would that be 99% or 99.5%, Bruce?
See above:
In the ICM poll, almost half (49%) of teenagers said their parents or relatives smoked near them when they were younger - 45% wished they had not.
Other research showed almost half of adult smokers (45%) admitted smoking in the car with children present, while almost a third (28%) smoked in the same room.
So that's not MOST is it Bruce? MOST would have to be more than 50%, surely!
Smoking damages your health. Fine, we all know that ... and there is plently of evidence to back it up.
There isn't much evidence to suggest that passive smoking is particularly harmful. There is little evidence that it increases the risk of developing asthma. There is damn all evidence that passive smoking causes cot death.
Is it sensible to smoke round kids? No. It isn't sensible to smoke, and it isn't sensible to inflict your fumes on anyone.
But it is stupid to exagerate the evidence and make wild claims about the risks, because it is totally unconvincing and gives allows people to dismiss the entire topic as propaganda.
There isn't much evidence to suggest that passive smoking is particularly harmful. There is little evidence that it increases the risk of developing asthma. There is damn all evidence that passive smoking causes cot death.
Is it sensible to smoke round kids? No. It isn't sensible to smoke, and it isn't sensible to inflict your fumes on anyone.
But it is stupid to exagerate the evidence and make wild claims about the risks, because it is totally unconvincing and gives allows people to dismiss the entire topic as propaganda.
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