A Liverpool charity has welcomed new research showing the amount of teenage girls taking up smoking has decreased since the introduction of the public smoking ban in 2007.
Researchers from Universities in Glasgow and Stirling, and the Welsh Government looked into smoking numbers among 13 and 15-year-old boys and girls from across the UK.
They found that since the ban the number of teenage girls smoking has dropped from 24% to 19%.
The ban for indoor smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces, including bars, restaurants and public transport was introduced in England in July 2007.
Liverpool-based charity, the Roy Castle Lung Foundation, has given its backing to the report. The FagEnds campaign service manager. Lisa Williams. said: “We welcome this new research that indicates that smoking bans across the UK appear to have reduced the number of teenage girls taking up the habit.
“The ban has had a positive impact in helping to de-normalise smoking in public places for children and young people. Reducing the prevalence of adult smoking has also had a very significant impact, as children are less exposed in their home environment.”
The charity played a very active role in ensuring that this smoking ban was introduced, by creating smoke-free environments in their workplace and public buildings.
Mrs Williams added: “It’s been a positive step – but lung cancer remains the biggest cancer killer of women in the UK. We want to put an end to that. We’re making progress, but we still have a lot of work to do.”