Parents encouraged to give up the smokes

The local health authority ran a smoking-free family event on Saturday to encourage parents who smoke to quit, especially as children are affected by second-hand smoke in the home, and minors not to try cigarettes.

During the event, participating families signed commitments to not smoke and build a smoking-free family.

It is the 15th anniversary of Shanghai's anti-smoking law, which has effectively helped decrease smoking in banned venues from 37.5 percent to 12.4 percent.

The adult smoking rate has also dropped to 19.2 percent, 7.7 percentage points lower before the introduction of the law. The rate has been on a continuous downward curve for a straight 13 years.

The promotion of the "no smoking" family is an important measure by the local authority, which organized various events to educate people about the harm of smoking, especially the harm to children and minors of second-hand smoke in the home.

According to a study conducted by the Shanghai Health Promotion Center in 60 schools in 10 districts in 2021, smoking among local secondary school students remains low, but their exposure to second-hand smoke is high.

About 75.6 percent of students interviewed said they had been exposed to second-hand smoke in the past seven days.

Exposure to second-hand smoke was 39 percent at home, 49.8 percent at indoor public venues, 61.8 percent in outdoor public places and 21 percent on public transport.