Efforts to persuade youngsters to accept the dangers of smoking appear to be failing, after new figures revealed that 45 under-age children start smoking somewhere in the West Country every single day.
More than 16,000 young people aged between 11 and 15 light up for the first time each year, despite millions spent on education campaigns in schools, TV adverts and clampdowns on cigarette advertising.
The legal age to buy cigarettes has recently gone up to 18, but youngsters are taking up the habit across the West, despite all the warnings.
Health campaigners believe one of the main reasons could be that they have already been long exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke from parents or older people in their own homes, and now doctors and Government anti-smoking campaigners are starting a new campaign aimed at educating smokers not to damage their children's health.
GPs estimate that millions of children go to their doctors or hospitals every year with health problems caused by breathing in second-hand smoke – and it costs the NHS more than £23.6 million annually.
A new survey has revealed that more than two-thirds of parents who smoke admit to lighting up in the car with their children in the back seat, and three-quarters of them said they were shocked when told of the extent of the problem.
In the South West each and every month, a total of 1,375 youngsters aged between 11 and 15 start smoking, including 149 in Gloucestershire, 107 in Wiltshire, 97 in Dorset and 120 in Bristol.
Fiona Andrews, the director of campaign group Smokefree Southwest, said a campaign launched two years ago to encourage parents to smoke outside to lessen the damage to their children had been successful. The number of adults giving up now meant that only two out of every 15 homes in the West now have a smoker in them, a figure down from two in nine homes, with that reduction happening in just the past couple of years.
"In the South West, the regional 'Smoke Outside' campaign, which launched in 2011, has already made a significant contribution to the huge drop in the number of people who still allow smoking in their homes," she said.
"Now there are an estimated 400,000 more people now living in smoke-free homes. This drop illustrates a great achievement for the campaign and the health of people and children across our region, more can be done.
"Smokefree South West will be working closely with local public health teams and partners such as Fire & Rescue services on a Smokefree Homes campaign across our communities. We are delighted to see Public Health England launch their national campaign and will bring our support to maximising the local impact," she added.
"Secondhand smoke can be an invisible killer – giving up is the best way to protect your family and we can help you quit," she said.
