Passive smoking is a major cause of respiratory illness among children.
But the research showed that the more heavily parents smoked, the less likely were they to make an appointment for asthma for their children. Over 400 asthmatic children aged two to 12 with a parent who smoked were studied. Health service contacts for asthma, taken from general practitioner case records in 73 practices, were assessed. The effects of passive smoking were measured by levels of a tobacco by-product, cotinine, in the children's saliva. The results showed that when parents perceived their child's asthma to be severe, they were likely to make more visits.