A new report published this morning shows a decline in smoking rates among both children and pregnant women over the past decade, both North and South of the border.
The report published by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland and the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland shows that smoking during pregnancy has declined by around one third over the last decade.
It also shows the number of 10 to 17-year-olds reporting that they had ever smoked has dropped from 36% to 27% between 2006 and 2010.
But the report also warns that tobacco is also taking a toll on children's health and that disadvantaged children are at particular risk of tobacco-related harms.
It also emphasises that stopping smoking needs to be prioritised for parents during pregnancy and during their child's early years.
Dr. Helen McAvoy said that the findings demonstrate the return from the introduction of broad-ranging tobacco control measures - such as smoke-free workplaces, regulation of vending machines and pack sizes.
"Children are still trying their first cigarette at a very young age and their stage of development makes them uniquely susceptible to tobacco marketing and branding" she said.
"However, there are signs of improvement - the proportion of children in the Republic of Ireland who reported trying their first cigarette aged 13 or younger has fallen over time".
"The burden of harm associated with smoking falls heavily on the most disadvantaged children. This is true in terms of their likelihood of exposure in the womb as well as to second-hand smoke in the home and ultimately to their own risk of taking up smoking at a young age" she added.
Mothers from deprived areas more likely to smoke
Meanwhile, in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland, mothers were three-times more likely to smoke during pregnancy than in the least deprived areas.
9-year-old children in the Republic of Ireland living in the lowest income families were twice as likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke in the home as children in the highest income families.
Professor Luke Clancy highlighted the report’s findings on children's exposure to second-hand smoke.
"Based on the report of parents in the Republic of Ireland, between one in five and one in six 9-year-old children live in a home where people smoke in the same room as them. Around one in seven 13 to 14-year-olds reported that someone smokes in the car when they are present" he said.
"However, despite concerns that the smoking ban in workplaces would result in increases in the exposure of children to second-hand smoke in the home, the evidence definitively shows that this has not been the case. On the contrary, evidence from Northern Ireland shows small but significant declines in children’s exposure to second-hand smoke exposure in the home over time" he added.
