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FRENCH STUDY

HEALTH

Passive smoking causes kids behavioural issues

A study of thousands of French primary school pupils has concluded that children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy or are born into smokers' homes are twice as likely to suffer from behavioural problems as they grow up.

Passive smoking causes kids behavioural issues
Children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy at high risk of developing behavioural disorders. Photo: Shutterstock

Children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy — and even those born into smokers' homes — are nearly twice as likely to develop behavioural problems, researchers said Tuesday.

A study of some 5,200 French primary school children linked exposure to smoking with a range of troubling behaviour such as aggression, disobedience, lying and cheating.

“Exposure to tobacco during pregnancy and after birth practically doubles the risk of behaviour problems among primary school children aged on average around 10 years,” study head Isabella Annesi-Maesano, of France's leading government health research body INSERM, told AFP.

The culprit could be the toxic effect that nicotine has on developing brains — especially during the first months of life, said the study published last month in American journal PlOS One.

Researchers said the higher risk was demonstrated by the fact that 18 percent of children exposed to smoke before and after birth exhibited behaviour problems, compared with the 9.7 percent who came from non-smoking households.

The results were based on questionnaires filled out by parents which assessed their children's behaviour and whether they had been exposed to tobacco before their first birthday.

Researchers also reported higher risks of emotional disorders — like becoming easily afraid — in children exposed to nicotine in the womb or in early life.

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HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

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