Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke stand a good chance of never reaching their full potential of developing normal lung function, a top consultant respiratory physician has warned.

Smoking near children should not be allowed because it can have acute and chronic repercussions on their health, according to Stephen Montefort. 

Consultant respiratory physician Stephen Montefort

“Ear throat and chest problems in children exposed to second-hand smoke are more common with more frequent exacerbations. This, apart from being more likely for the children to eventually becoming smokers themselves… In my opinion, smoking should not be allowed wherever children can have such exposure, and this should start in the home,” he said.

Montefort was reacting to the results of a recent study that showed that the vast majority of children who took part in the study had traces of second-hand smoke in their bodies even though nearly three-quarters of their parents reported they were not exposed to it at home.

The research provided a snapshot of the hidden impact of tobacco that potentially exists in the age cohort. The study involved taking urine samples from 174 children aged nine to 11 from five public schools.

Although nearly three in four parents (72.4 per cent) reported that their children were not exposed to tobacco smoke at home, the urine samples revealed that 95.4 per cent of the children were exposed to nicotine and 98.3 per cent were exposed to NNK (nicotine-derived nitrosamino ketone), a known lung carcinogen derived from the addictive nicotine.

“Since almost all children were exposed to tobacco smoke, the exposure does not occur only at home, but certainly also in transit – by walking or in cars – or during other social activities where adults smoke in the presence of children,” said lead researcher Noel Aquilina.

Reacting to this, Montefort, who co-authored the study together with Peter Fsadni, said: “This paper also shows that the claims that parents say that they do not smoke near their children, and thus do not affect them adversely, is mistaken. The evidence is that second-hand smoke lurks in the air and on surfaces for longer and thus the children are exposed anyway.”

Montefort has long been researching the impact of second-hand smoke on children.

Children tend to flush carcinogens from their bodies slowly compared to adults

In 2012, he was among Maltese doctors who carried out a study that looked at about 8,000 schoolchildren and provided unprecedented concrete evidence that passive smoking in the home and personal smoking in teenagers “really affects” allergic conditions in children.

The study had found that 31 per cent of five- to eight-year-olds were passive smokers, followed by 51 per cent of 13- to 15-year-olds. It found that maternal and paternal smoking resulted in the children having an increased chance of wheezing sometime in their life, exercise-induced wheezing, nocturnal cough and asthma.

Children tend to flush carcinogens from their bodies slowly compared to adults.

According to Maltese legislation, since 2004, smoking is not allowed in public indoor spaces. In 2012, a ban on smoking in playgrounds came into force. The ban also applies to public gardens in the precincts of children’s playing equipment. As from January 2017, it became illegal to smoke in private cars in the presence of children under 16.

There is nothing stopping adults from smoking around children in other areas, such as at home or while sitting outdoors in a bar or restaurant.

A Eurobarometer survey published in February 2021 showed that Maltese are more likely to experience outdoor smoking in areas frequented by children and teens, compared to other Europeans.

A total of 41 per cent of Maltese respondents reported the presence of smokers in outdoor places intended for teens or children like parks and playgrounds compared to only 31 per cent of all respondents in the EU and the UK.

According to a World Health Organisation March 2021 report, second-hand smoke kills around 1.2 million people every year and 65,000 of these premature and preventable deaths are children and adolescents under 15 years.

The report revealed that children with caregivers who smoke are almost 70 per cent more likely to try smoking by the age of 15.