BANNING smoking in public places has contributed towards a significant reduction in the number of premature births and asthma attacks in children, a major new study led by Scottish researchers has shown.
While the ban on lighting up in places like pubs and restaurants had already been proven to protect adults from the effects of passive smoking, a team led by Edinburgh University researchers studied the effect of the laws on the health of children in different countries for the first time.
It was found that, while the impact of anti-smoking laws varied between countries, the effect on child health was described as "very positive" overall.
Scotland was the first area of the UK to ban smoking in public places in March 2006, followed a year later by England.
The research, published today in medical journal The Lancet, found the laws had contributed towards a one-tenth fall in premature births.
There was also a drop in the number of hospital attendances for childhood asthma attacks of 10%. The team looked at over 2.5 million births and almost 250,000 hospital attendances for asthma attacks.
Researchers said they hoped the study, which looked at data from North America and Europe, would prompt other countries to follow Scotland's lead and embrace a ban on smoking in public places.
Less than one-sixth of the world's population are currently protected by anti-smoking laws, meaning 40% of children are regularly exposed to passive smoking.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, co-director of the Centre for Population Health Sciences at Edinburgh University , said: "This research has demonstrated the considerable potential that smoke-free legislation offers to reduce pre-term births and childhood asthma attacks.
"The many countries that are yet to enforce smoke-free legislation should in the light of these findings reconsider their positions on this important health policy question."
While 13,500 people still die every year as a result of smoking, the law has been credited with bringing significant health benefits, while also changing attitudes towards tobacco.
The latest figures show that, in the two years to March 2013, 236,000 smokers attempted to quit in Scotland, with a 38% success rate after one month.
Passive smoking can cause babies to be stillborn or born prematurely and is linked to birth defects, asthma and lung infections. Studies have also suggested that being exposed to second-hand smoke during childhood may have long-term health implications, contributing to heart disease and diabetes.
The study, which also involved researchers from Maastricht University, Hasselt University, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, suggests the fears it would lead to more people smoking at home were unfounded.
Lead researcher, Dr Jasper Been of Edinburgh University's Centre for Population Health Sciences, said: "Our research shows that smoking bans are an effective way to protect the health of our children."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article