Parents enlisted in battle to stop kids smoking

Health researchers plan to test a new weapon in the battle to stop children smoking - their parents.

The Keeping Kids Smokefree programme aims to change parents' smoking behaviour and attitudes in order to keep their children away from tobacco.

Aimed at intermediate school children, the programme was created by the Auckland Tobacco Control Research Centre and was launched at Auckland University yesterday.

Centre director Dr Marewa Glover said research had shown clear associations between parents' and children's smoking.

But most projects aimed at stopping children smoking had focused on the children themselves, she said. Little work had been done on the parents.

"One small study we've done on parents' attitudes to children taking up smoking - apart from the fact that they would all feel gutted if their children did take up smoking - is a lot of them felt there was nothing they could do about it.

"But research globally suggests that parents can have an impact, even if they smoked themselves. If they send very strong messages to their children, that does have an impact."

Methods employed in the trial include the creation of pamphlets and workshops for parents on talking to their children about smoking, stop-smoking programmes for parents, and increasing public health promotion.

Researchers are looking for two South Auckland schools with high Maori and Pacific Island populations to take part in the programme for three years, from next year.

The results will then be compared with two other schools to determine the programme's success.

If it works, the programme will be extended.

The Health Research Council has given about $700,000 for the project's first three years.