INHALERS and asthma medication could become a thing of the past for thousands more North West children if their parents stop smoking in the home and the car.
Mums and dads who smoke around children can do something more powerful than their child’s inhaler and either quit smoking or take it outside.
A study published this year by the University of Aberdeen show that children exposed to smoke in cars breathe in similar levels of tobacco poison to a busy, smoke-filled pub before the UK went smokefree.[i]
The latest YouGov survey in the North West shows only 10% of people allow smoking anywhere in the home while only 8% now allow people to smoke in the car at any time.
Andrea Crossfield, Director of Smokefree North West, is making a plea for World Asthma Day (May 3) and said: “Most parents would not dream of subjecting their child to hours in a smoke filled room. Yet some people don’t realise the harm that can be done by smoking in the car.
“Smoke is a cocktail of poisons which lingers around for hours. Opening the car window or kitchen door is not enough to stop children breathing it in.
“It’s better to prevent asthma than treat it and that is why more and more parents are either quitting or taking it outside. As well as the toxic fumes, many worry it will only encourage their child to see mum or dad smoking and try it themselves. “
GPs in the North West are estimated to see around 34,000 children a year suffering from illnesses as a result of tobacco smoke, including brand new cases of wheeze and asthma.
Neil Churchill, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, says: ‘The UK has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma worldwide with 1.1m children struggling with the condition. We know that children whose parents smoke are 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma than those who don’t and with over 70 children a day being admitted to hospital with potentially life threatening asthma attacks, Asthma UK urges parents in the North West to be responsible and to do all they can to quit smoking.’
Children with asthma who live in households with smokers:
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may have flare-ups more often
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are more likely to have to go the emergency department with severe asthma flare-ups
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are more likely to miss school because of their asthma
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must take more asthma medicine
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have asthma that's harder to control, even with medication
The study by the University of Aberdeen involved a child sized doll child being fitted in a car seat with the very latest smoke monitoring equipment attached at the doll’s mouth so that precise measurements could be taken.
F0r information on quitting phone the NHS helpline on 0800 012 1612 or click on http://smokefree.nhs.uk/
For more information about going outside to smoke please visit www.take7stepsout.co.uk
