British researchers investigated the impact of parental smoking habits on children’s smoking decisions, reports Medical News Today.
By looking at detailed information from the British household survey from 1994 to 2002 about products consumed in the household, including tobacco, scientists analyzed the transmission of smoking habits between generations.
The research, which has been published in the journal Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, showed evidence that the same-sex parent was the primary role model in two-parent households: mothers play a large role in their daughters’ smoking decisions, whereas fathers’ smoking habits are primarily imitated by their sons. If both parents smoked, the odds of a child taking up smoking are about 24 percent, however that number is cut in half if neither parent smokes.
For single-mother households, however, mothers transmit their smoking habits to their children regardless of gender. The son’s likelihood of copying his mother’s smoking habit is 32 percent, and a daughter’s likelihood is 28 percent.
"These results have clear importance in terms of designing public policies to combat smoking. Policies that are successful in reducing smoking habits among parents will also affect their children. Anti-smoking policies for young people need to be put in place that will also include the family and social context in which they live", explains co-author and Spanish researcher Loureiro.