Parental absence in childhood linked to early smoking and drinking

Parental absence in early childhood as a result of death or relationship breakdown is linked to a heightened risk of starting to smoke and drink alcohol before the child reaches his/her teens, research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood has indicated. For the study researchers drew on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which has been tracking the health of almost 19,000 children born between 2000 and 2002, in regular surveys. The first of these was carried out nine months after birth, with subsequent surveys when the children were three, five, seven and 11 years old.…