Smoking in the car is child abuse, GP Steve Field warns

Parents who smoke in cars in front of small children are “committing a form of child abuse”, a leading GP has said.

Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, has condemned society’s attitudes to food, alcohol and cigarettes.

In a letter to the Observer newspaper, he said parents had to take more responsibility for their children’s health – and set a good example.

He said irresponsible behaviour led to high levels of disease and early death.

He called on parents, mothers-to-be, the obese, smokers and drinkers to turn into healthy role models for their children.

Professor Field, who represents 42,000 GPs across the UK, added: “I suppose the same people also smoke at home in front of their children.

“Evidence from the US indicates that more young children are killed by parental smoking than by all other unintentional injuries combined.”