Exposure to passive smoking among children has halved in the last 10 years, according to research published in today's British Medical Journal. Doctors report that the fall among 11/15-year-olds in the UK is attributable to a drop in the percentage of parents who smoke.
In a special edition produced to coincide with next week's World Conference on Tobacco and Health in Chicago, the journal also carries US research illustrating the effectiveness of banning smoking in the home as well as in public places.
Scientists from the University of Illinois have shown that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in children makes them more likely to take up active smoking in their teenage years.
In an editorial accompanying the original research papers, Dr Robert Ferrence and Dr Mary Jane Ashley, of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, suggest that shifting public attitudes to smoking at home mean the climate is now right for behavioural intervention aimed at parents.
The editors also call for a multi-faceted approach to adolescent smoking, to include tobacco price increases and media interventions highlighting the importance of protecting health.
Meanwhile, in continuing evidence highlighting underhand tobacco industry practices, researchers have unearthed records showing collaboration between tobacco companies and the manufacturers of children's candy cigarettes.
Some tobacco companies granted confectioners permission to use cigarette pack designs in an effort to promote smoking in children. They also suppressed research showing the potentially harmful effects of this strategy.
The Irish Times will carry daily reports from the Chicago anti-tobacco conference from Monday.