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THE TREND TO SMOKEFREE HOMES
As Figure 1 shows, smoking in
adolescents is decreasing, perceived smoking among parents has increased,
while more homes with parents smoking do not permit smoking inside the
home.
Between 2001 and 2004, the difference between the two top lines of
Figure 1 doubled, from 5.2
percentage points to 10.4 percentage points, indicating a trend to
smokefree homes. The bad news is that according to adolescents at year
10, smoking prevalence among their parents has increased two percentage
points between Year 10 students in 2001 and 2004.
Figure 1. Smoking by parents,
adolescents; and whether smoking permitted in the home
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28%
of smokers’ homes smokefree
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Source: based on
data from ASH Year 10 surveys at www.ash.org.nz
Students were asked if they smoked monthly or more often, and whether one,
both or neither parent smoked. Estimations are based on two parents per
student.
The proportion of homes with at least one parent smoked, but where
smoking did not occur inside the home, almost doubled, from 14.6% to 27.7%
[(37.5-27.1)/37.5=27.7] This suggests good compliance with the sentiment
of a recent television commercial ‘Take the smoke outside.’
(The above estimations assume that homes with neither parent smoking
do not permit smoking inside the
home. This is almost but not always true.)
Current government policy
1 Legislation for
smokefree workplaces has established smokefree environments as the norm.
2 Government has a
policy of promoting smokefree homes but not by legislation.
2 Government through the Quit Campaign
and Health Sponsorship Council has funded a media campaign to promote smokefree homes in the last few
years.
3 Government through Health
Research Council has funded Changing parents smoking behaviour to reduce uptake of smoking
among children, in South Auckland, a research
project that will look into smokefree homes and other ways parents
influence children’s smoking.
Why this policy should be
strengthened with further funding as a top priority
Research evidence on the
importance of this policy for preventing adolescent smoking
Laugesen M. Smokefree homes
are the key to reducing adolescent smoking, and reducing parental
smoking. 2004. Part of a presentation to Smokefree Auckland group, 14 July 2004.
Smokefree_homes04.ppt
smokefreehomes.pdf
Research evidence on the
importance of this policy for reducing adults’ exposure to smoke in
the home
Wellington researchers (Hill, Blakely et al BMJ 2004) working from the 1996 Census question on smoking
and subsequent death records, have shown that living with a smoker in the
late 1990s in New Zealand, before smokers were asked to take the smoke
outside, increased the risk of early death for never smokers in the same
household over the next three years by over 20%. RRoftobaccos.htm
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