A BAN on smoking in housing with children could help bring about “real change” by cutting their exposure to preventing youngsters second-hand tobacco smoke, an expert has said.

Writing in the BMJ’s Tobacco Control, University of Stirling’s Professor Sean Semple argues that while present smoking bans in enclosed public spaces had been effective, there remained a “significant gap in the protection of children’s health” from smoke at home. 

Small rooms and poor ventilation increase the impacts of passive smoking on children, such as respiratory infections and impaired lung development, he said.

Calling smoking in homes with children to be made a “thing of the past,” Professor Semple said: “A ban in the home could not only protect children’s health, but also shift social norms around smoking indoors, much like the effect of existing smoking bans in cars carrying children.”

Health charity Ash Scotland’s Sheila Duffy said the measure should be “carefully considered,” adding: “Everyone should have the right to breathe clean air.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are not currently considering extending smoke-free legislation to inside homes where children are present but will keep this under review.”