Q: "I can't give up cigarettes but I now smoke outside to protect my children. Although they do see me sometimes, is what I'm doing enough to protect them from the effects of passive smoking?"

A: Professor John Britton, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians' Tobacco Advisory Group, says: "Giving up altogether is the best thing. If you try to quit, make sure you use the counselling support your GP or local stop smoking service can arrange and use nicotine replacement therapy or other treatment to support the attempt. You may surprise yourself and make it. Certainly, if you don't try, you'll always be a smoker.

"If quitting isn't going to happen, the next best thing is to smoke outside and make sure visitors to the house do the same. But as soon as your children are old enough to know what you're doing, they'll be learning from your example and may be more likely to become smokers as a result.

"Children exposed to smoke in the home are at up to 70 per cent increased risk of suffering acute chest infections or asthma or middle ear disease and for small babies there's nearly twice the risk of cot death.

"Smoking in a different part of the house doesn't prevent the problem because cigarette smoke spreads everywhere. It's essential to go outdoors."