Health Bill [HL]

I strongly support the amendment. I do so partly because of what my noble friend Lady Howarth said about the fascination of children with colourful packaging, of the kind that is displayed on Rothmans and Marlboro packaging and the like. I repeat my interest as a trustee of the Adolescent and Children’s Trust, a fostering agency. I recently visited a children’s home. A 15 year-old young woman was saying over lunch that she was getting fatter and fatter. Young people who have had a poor experience of parenting can feel particularly worried about their weight and have low self-esteem. They are particularly vulnerable to marketing of all kinds, including package design of cigarettes. I am particularly concerned that, for this girl, for instance, a brand like Silk Cut Slims, with its elegant white packet, will suggest to her that if she smokes she will become more elegant and slimmer. Of course, there is a danger that, as a young woman, she may feel that smoking will reduce her appetite, making her less fat. I remind Members of the Committee that, according to the Office of National Statistics, two-thirds of children in care smoke—far higher than the national average. The rates of teenage pregnancy for those in care are far higher. This is a risk for young women, such as the woman in care I met last night who started smoking at the age of eight, had a child while in her teenage years and continued smoking throughout her pregnancy; I think she was 17. These young children are encouraged to smoke by marketing, including the packaging of cigarettes. They do not have parents to guide them. They are therefore more susceptible to marketing messages. They become pregnant and their children are further at risk of being underweight at birth, suffering from disability and being premature. The children grow up with a mother who smokes in the house and the child is therefore at risk of respiratory illnesses and more likely to miss time at school and possibly to fall behind. He is also far more likely to pick up smoking if his parent smokes. I urge Members of the Committee seriously to consider the amendment and consider curtailing marketing in this way. If we look back, we have to say that we have not looked out for our most vulnerable children as well as we should have done. If we look back at the fostering and social work services we have provided, we have not invested in social workers and foster carers. What the Government and Conservative Party are now considering in terms of social work is encouraging. This is a small but important step in improving the chances for these children and their children to do far better than they have in the past.