Parents who smoke around their children are putting them at early death risk, says a British doctor. Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said that adults could outlive their children if they neglect their kids’ health. He labeled the habit of parents smoking around children as a form of ‘child abuse.’ "I suppose the same people also smoke at home in front of their children,” The Sun quoted Field as saying.

"Evidence from the US indicates that more young children are killed by parental smoking than by all other unintentional injuries combined," he added. Field, representing 42,000 British GPs, urged parents, mothers-to-be, the obese, smokers and drinkers not to take offence at their doctors’ advice not to smoke, eat or drink in excess.

The doctor was particularly scathing about irresponsible adults who choose to feed their kids with large portions of junk food. He said, "Unless parents exert more control over their children's diets, they are risking a lifetime of health problems, and even premature death - death before their parents, which is almost too sad to contemplate."