Smoking bans in pubs and restaurants may endanger children by causing smokers to indulge in their habit more frequently at home, a visiting academic says.

Research by economist Francesca Cornaglia of Queen Mary University, London, has found higher levels of passive smoking among children in the U.S. where such bans exist.
Smoking bans at pubs, clubs and restaurants have been introduced in most Australian states in the past few years.
Dr Cornaglia today said the data suggested that people who were no longer allowed to smoke in such public places were simply changing the location of where they smoked.
""Children wouldn't have gone to the restaurant or pubs. If they have a father and mother go home and smoke, then they contaminate the child,"" she said.
""We do see an increase in the cotinine level in children that live with smokers as a consequence of (the) introduction of bans in recreational and public places.""
Cotinine is a biomarker for the presence of nicotine.
Dr Cornaglia said such an effect on non-smokers wasn't seen from bans in other public locations.
""It only applies for places for which there's a private substitute.
""If a ban is enforced in the workplace or in (public) transport then it doesn't apply, you do see a reduction in the nicotine in non-smokers.""
In another research paper, Dr Cornaglia found that taxes on cigarettes which raised their cost benefited non-smokers.
""Increase in taxes leads to a reduction in exposures to smoke in non-smokers,"" she said.
However, smokers were no better off health-wise because they inhaled deeper from the fewer cigarettes they smoked.
The research was conducted using US data recorded between 1988 and 2002.
(Source: news.com)