According to a press release issued by the Department of Health this week:
Children are so concerned about the impact on their parent's health that they'd go to considerable lengths to get them to give up, including going without Christmas presents; giving up their pocket money; and even committing to complete their homework every night, according to new research ...
The research, which was conducted on behalf of Department of Health, reveals the anti smoking stance of a new smokefree generation of kids [sic] who are so opposed to cigarettes they've labelled smoking stupid, say they will never try a cigarette and that they wish that nobody in the world smoked.
It wouldn't be a DoH press release without the gruesome twosome popping up to comment, and sure enough:
Anne Milton, Public Health Minister, said: "What's clear from the research is that children really want their parents to give up smoking ..."
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive, Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), said: "Evidence shows that smokers need to be motivated to quit and need advice on how to quit ..."
Frankly, I don't know why ASH bothers to have its own office. The DoH must have a spare room. Or Anne and Debs could share. Think of the savings ...