Secondary smoking (passive smoking)

Secondary smoking, also known as passive smoking, refers to the inhalation of other people’s tobacco smoke. In this context, this means passive smoking by people who are not smoking themselves in an indoor environment. The survey question was: ‘How often are you/is your child exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke indoors?’ The response options were:

1. Never or almost never
2. Less than once a week
3. At least once a week, but not every day
4. Every day for less than one hour a day
5. Every day for one hour or more

In the Health Survey, the responses for children aged under 12 are provided by their parents/guardians. It is assumed that people in this age group do not smoke themselves. Young people aged 12 and over answer the questions for themselves.

The following categories have been used in this news release:
- Less than once a week: percentage of people who answered ‘less than once a week’.
- At least once a week: percentage of people answering ‘At least once a week, but not every day’, ‘Every day for less than one hour a day’ or ‘Every day for one hour or more’.
- Weekly but not every day: percentage of people answering ‘At least once a week, but not every day’.
- Every day: percentage of people answering ‘Every day for less than one hour a day’ or ‘Every day for one hour or more’.

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