Parental smoking in children consulting for respiratory diseases in Switzerland

Background

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) negatively affects children’s health, but few studies examined parental smoking behaviour in families of children with respiratory diseases. We studied parental smoking prevalence, characteristics, and changes over one year among families in the Swiss Paediatric Airway Cohort (SPAC).

Methods

We included children aged 0–17 years referred to paediatric respiratory outpatient clinics in Switzerland from 2017 to 2024. Parents answered a questionnaire at the initial clinic visit and again after one year. We used multivariable logistic regression to explore the characteristics of mothers and fathers who smoked and assessed changes in smoking behavior over one year.

Results

Among 4,199 children (median age 9 years [IQR 5–12]), 31% were exposed to parental smoking at baseline (paternal smoking: 16%; maternal smoking: 6%; both parents smoking: 9%). Mothers were more likely to smoke if they had a lower education level (OR 2.0, 95%CI 1.6–2.5 for compulsory education vs university education), did not have Swiss nationality (OR 1.3, 1.0–1.6) and lived in a socially disadvantaged neighborhood (OR 1.3, 1.0–1.7). Similar associations were observed for fathers. In addition, fathers were more likely to smoke if they were unemployed (OR 2.0, 1.3–3.2 vs having a full-time job. The strongest predictor of smoking was having a partner who smoked, with ORs above 6 for both mothers and fathers.

Parents of 2,338 children completed the one-year follow-up questionnaire. Data from 2226 mothers and 1895 fathers showed that among baseline smokers with follow-up data, 225 (78%) mothers and 382 (81%) of fathers continued smoking, and only 63 (22%) of mothers and 90 (19%) of fathers quit. Among baseline non-smokers, 47 (2%) mothers and 54 (3%) fathers started smoking.

Conclusions

One-third of children consulting respiratory specialists in Switzerland are exposed to parental smoking. ETS exposure was strongly associated with socio-economic factors. Even after visiting a specialized clinic, most parents continued to smoke. This highlights the urgent need for stronger national smoking policies and targeted support to help these parents quit and stay smoke-free.