Most smokers in the Netherlands who tried or managed to give up last year said they did it to protect their children’s health, according to new research by national statistics office CBS.

In total, 91% said having children was a reason to stop, 87% said their own health was paramount and 75% said a healthcare professional had recommended they do so.

Media campaigns and health warnings had an impact on fewer that one in four people’s efforts to kick the habit.

One third of the country’s smokers made a serious attempt to stop smoking last year and just under a quarter of the adult population is a smoker, the CBS survey found. Two years ago, 26% of the adult population smoked regularly.

The survey found 30 to 40-year-olds are most likely to smoke but just over 10% of the over-75s do so.