It is regarded as a bigger potential danger than junk food, lack of exercise, food additives, media images of the perfect body in the media, and GM foods. One in three parents ranked pollution as more hazardous to the health of their offspring than anything else, according to the poll by Norwich Union Healthcare.
Pollution is a trigger for asthma sufferers, and the heat of summer often makes the condition worse.
Figures published in the National Asthma Audit this year showed that one child in seven has the allergy. One third of children with asthma miss more than one week of school a year, with nearly one in 10 missing more than a month every year. Norwich Union Healthcare has published a booklet called Playground Plagues for parents worried about their children's asthma and other illnesses. The independent poll surveyed 500 parents earlier this month.