Passive smoke ‘cuts learning skills of children’

CHILDREN who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home achieve lower scores in tests of reading and maths, researchers have found.

The US study, part of the largest to look at the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children’s health, assessed the cognitive skills of youngsters who were exposed to passive smoking.

The team found even low levels of exposure to smoking in the home and elsewhere caused the children’s test scores to drop.