Children are more likely to develop asthma if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke when he was a child, according to a study published today in the European Respiratory Journal. The study also shows that children’s risk of asthma is even higher if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke and went on to become a smoker. The researchers have found that the risk of non-allergic asthma in children increases by 59% if their fathers were exposed to second-hand smoke in childhood, compared to children whose fathers were not exposed. The risk was even higher, at 72%, if the fathers were exposed to second-hand smoke and went on to smoke themselves. The findings show how the damage caused by smoking can have an impact not only on smokers, but also their children and grandchildren.