Passive smoking during a father's childhood can affect the lung function of his future offspring

According to the findings published in the journal Thorax, sons of men who were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence are at greater risk of developing respiratory diseases throughout their lives. This is undoubtedly a robust study, which evaluated the respiratory function of a large cohort of people born in 1961 over several decades, despite being an observational study and the fact that data on exposure to environmental smoke and other important variables were obtained retrospectively from self-reports.

Although further research is needed to confirm whether the harmful effects of involuntary exposure to tobacco during childhood are passed on to the next generation, the results of this study support the need to improve the protection of children and adolescents from tobacco smoke. In Spain, a process of updating regulations has begun, long demanded by organisations such as the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking, which is moving in this direction, as it contemplates extending the smoking ban to environments frequented by minors, such as sports facilities, school entrances and cars.