Laws that ban smoking in workplaces and public settings seem to show a fringe benefit - such legislation is linked with a decline in hospital admissions for childhood asthma.
Laws that ban smoking in workplaces and public settings seem to show a fringe benefit - such legislation is linked with a decline in hospital admissions for childhood asthma.
It has been long known that exposure to tobacco smoke increases the incidence and severity of asthma, and that children are especially vulnerable. While other studies have looked at the effects of smoking bans on all ages, and have taken into account on-the-job exposure, the current study looks at a subgroup of the population who do not have occupational exposure.
Researchers identified all the hospital admissions for asthma among children in Scotland under the age of 15 from January 2000 through October 2009. They found a total of 21,415 admissions for asthma. Before the smoking law passed, admissions were increasing, on average, by 5.2 percent per year. After the law passed, there was a reduction, on average, of 18.2 percent each year, relative to the rate on the day the law went into effect. The decline in admissions for asthma was seen in both preschool and school-age children.
Legislation has an effect that extends beyond the locations that are covered by the restrictions. In Scotland there has been an increase in voluntary bans in the home and a resultant reduction in exposure to secondhand smoke among children. It is clear that legislation has a more general effect on smoking attitudes and behaviours.
When the legislation was first discussed, some feared that the bans in
public and workplaces might cause home smoking to increase. But there's no evidence of that. Instead the laws seem to have been followed by an increase in voluntary restriction of smoking at home.
The findings are a confirmation of the beneficial effect of reducing the exposure of children to environmental tobacco smoke. The study also suggests, importantly, that children (and not just adults) can be the beneficiaries of smoke-free policies which target the workplace and public spaces. In the United States, more than 200,000 episodes of childhood asthma each year have been blamed on parental smoking, some research has found.
It has been long known that exposure to tobacco smoke increases the incidence and severity of asthma, and that children are especially vulnerable. While other studies have looked at the effects of smoking bans on all ages, and have taken into account on-the-job exposure, the current study looks at a subgroup of the population who do not have occupational exposure.
Researchers identified all the hospital admissions for asthma among children in Scotland under the age of 15 from January 2000 through October 2009. They found a total of 21,415 admissions for asthma. Before the smoking law passed, admissions were increasing, on average, by 5.2 percent per year. After the law passed, there was a reduction, on average, of 18.2 percent each year, relative to the rate on the day the law went into effect. The decline in admissions for asthma was seen in both preschool and school-age children.
Legislation has an effect that extends beyond the locations that are covered by the restrictions. In Scotland there has been an increase in voluntary bans in the home and a resultant reduction in exposure to secondhand smoke among children. It is clear that legislation has a more general effect on smoking attitudes and behaviours.
When the legislation was first discussed, some feared that the bans in
public and workplaces might cause home smoking to increase. But there's no evidence of that. Instead the laws seem to have been followed by an increase in voluntary restriction of smoking at home.
The findings are a confirmation of the beneficial effect of reducing the exposure of children to environmental tobacco smoke. The study also suggests, importantly, that children (and not just adults) can be the beneficiaries of smoke-free policies which target the workplace and public spaces. In the United States, more than 200,000 episodes of childhood asthma each year have been blamed on parental smoking, some research has found.
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