Hiding cigarettes from view behind shop counters may have slashed the number of children buying cigarettes, a study has found.
The UK Government made it illegal to have cigarettes on show on the shelf in 2015 in a crackdown on smoking.
And now scientists have found the number of children who have bought cigarettes from a shop since the ban has dropped by 17 per cent.
In the first analysis of the impact of the ban, researchers quizzed 18,000 children over how often they smoke and where they get cigarettes from.
Just 40 per cent of children who smoked in 2016 bought their cigarettes in shops – down from 57 per cent in 2010, the study showed.
Nearly two thirds of children (65 per cent) say it is still ‘easy’ for them to buy cigarettes over the counter in shops and the same proportion were not turned away the last time they tried to buy tobacco, research by Imperial College London found
But nearly two thirds of children said it is still ‘easy’ for them to buy tobacco over the counter, and the same number were not turned away last time they tried.
The research, led by Imperial College London, comes after the launch of the annual Stoptober campaign yesterday, backed by TV host Jeremy Kyle.
All of the 11 to 15 year olds who were quizzed were anonymous. The same questions were asked each year between 2010 and 2016.
The researchers agreed the removal of cigarettes from display in shops played an ‘important role in reducing child smokers’.
One in 20 children in England admitted to smoking in 2016, down from around one in 10 in 2010, NHS data shows.
The researchers, led by Dr Anthony Laverty, acknowledged measures to try and cut smoking rates are working but warned ‘more work is needed’.
Previous research has shown people who don’t smoke when they’re younger are less likely to ever start.
Dr Laverty said: ‘Children who smoke are likely to continue smoking throughout their lifetime, seriously increasing their risk of disease.
‘We also know seeing cigarettes displayed in shops is linked to smoking, especially among children.
‘This research shows that removing displays made tobacco less visible to children, and that fewer of them bought cigarettes there.’
‘Most countries worldwide still allow cigarettes to be advertised and displayed in shops.
‘This research provides evidence the introduction of display bans will be an effective measure against children smoking – and could help save them from starting a deadly habit.’
Other possible reasons for falling numbers of children buying tobacco could include a ban outlawing cigarette vending machines, and increasing prices.
Shops are the second most common source of cigarettes for children – they most often get them from friends.
But the number of children buying cigarettes from illegal sellers has not changed since 2010, remaining below 10 per cent.
Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, from Imperial’s National Heart and Lung Institute, said the results were ‘encouraging’.
But he argued that it remains too easy for children to purchase cigarettes in shops and that more work is needed.
The team’s findings were published in the journal Tobacco Control.