As adults, we are the product of our upbringing and our inheritance: what we value, how we communicate and behave, are the results of this education. The same is true of our health – whether we like it or not, the way we view our health is often influenced by our parents.
Smoking is one habit that parents often go out of their way to hide from their children. Whether it is going out to the garden to smoke there instead of in the living room, or making sure lighters and tobacco are stashed away out of their reach, they go to great lengths to balance their habit with the health and wellbeing of their children. Of course, parents want to protect children from their unhealthy habits, so as to give them a better start in life.
Yet, we have all seen parents leaning out of the driver's seat window with a lit cigarette, their children in the backseat. What they often do not realise is that the car still fills with toxic vapours that their children are breathing in. Around 80 per cent of smoke is invisible and much of it stays in the car even if the window is open - if you could see these vapours, you'd realise they actually engulf the inside of the car.
Children are inadvertently designed to be perfect passive smokers. They breathe more rapidly than adults, so they are much more exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke. Their airways, lungs and immune systems are still developing so they are much more susceptible to damage. Also, and perhaps most importantly, they have no control over their surroundings; over a third of children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in vehicles do not feel able to ask the person to stop. They are scared, embarrassed, and do not know what to say. Cars, whilst being feats of modern engineering, are also the perfect venue for passive smoking: the child is strapped in and so has no means of moving away from the smoke.
Passive smoking is a huge threat to children – they are still growing, still developing into the adults that parents pour so much of their hope, dreams and love into. These children face a huge disadvantage if they are exposed to secondhand smoke, which can bring on pneumonia, ear infections and bronchitis. Around three million children every year are exposed to secondhand smoke in a car - and every week, 200 children have to visit their GP because of the effects.
As the Chief Medical Officer for England, I am behind the change in the law that is coming into force on October 1, which will make smoking in any private vehicle containing a child under 18 illegal. It will be engrained in the process of learning to drive, becoming a part of both the Highway Code and driving theory tests. This normalisation is essential if we want to impress upon people the dangers of smoking in cars and protect the health of our children.
Ultimately, the best thing to do is to stop smoking. As we head into October, Public Health England's Stoptober campaign provides a supportive and fun opportunity for smokers to give up. People who stop smoking for 28 days are five times more likely to stop for good, and the campaign has helped thousands of people to quit smoking.
This could not be more important – the best thing a smoker can do for their health is quit; the best thing a smoker can do for their children's health is quit.
I urge people to abide by this law for the safety of our children.