Second-hand smoke a possible asthma risk for future generations, study finds

Children are more likely to develop asthma if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke when he was a child, according to a study published today in the European Respiratory Journal.

Led by University of Melbourne researchers, Mr Jiacheng Liu and Dr Dinh Bui, the study also shows that children’s risk of asthma is even higher if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke and went on to become a smoker.

The researchers say their findings highlight how smoking can damage health not only for smokers and their children, but also their grandchildren.

The study was based on data from the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS), led by University of Melbourne Professor Shyamali Dharmage.

TAHS began in 1968 and is one of the world’s largest and longest ongoing respiratory studies.

For this study, researchers looked at 1689 children who grew up in Tasmania, their fathers and their paternal grandparents.

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