Children as young as seven affected by parents smoking

A new study out today [24 July] shows that children as young as seven had elevated levels of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine) in their blood if their mother smoked, particularly children whose mothers smoked ten cigarettes a day or more. The study looked at cotinine levels among children in the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol. It included over 3,000 children when they were aged seven and 2,000 children when they were aged 15. The researchers found that the cotinine levels of children at both ages were strongly related to whether or not the mother smoked, and how heavily, indicating clear evidence of environmental tobacco smoke exposure (also known as passive smoking). Most importantly, the cotinine levels of non-smoking 15-year-olds were five times higher if their mother smoked ten or more cigarettes a day, compared with the children of non-smoking mothers. For seven-year-olds they were four times higher. These levels of passive smoking exposure at age seven and 15 are comparable to the levels of exposure seen at age 15 in teenagers who smoke infrequently (less than weekly).