Kids Are Affected By Parental Smoking
- "One of the best ways to prevent children starting to smoke is to help their parents quit. . . Cigarettes must be made more inaccessible to children," Vivienne Nathanson of The British Medical Association (BMA) said.
- Parents who ban smoking in the home are less likely to have teens who experiment with cigarettes, according to a study led by Alison Albers, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health as fetured in the American Journal of Public Health.
- 75 percent of US households prohibit smoking, up sharply from the 43 percent of homes that prohibited smoking a decade ago, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey from 2003 revealed (CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report).
* Households with at least one smoker, the national prevalence of take-it-outside rules rose from about 10 percent in the early 1990s to 32 percent in 2003.
* Households with no smokers, the percentage with such rules rose from 57 percent to almost 84 percent.
- PARENTS: Quitting smoking may not be easy, but "it's the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby. Cigarette smoke contains 50 different carcinogens and more than 2,000 chemicals. It's not good for babies and small children," according to Dr. Michael Thun, vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research at the American Cancer Society.
- Children with one parent who smoked in their presence had up to 50 percent higher levels of a biological marker of oxidative stress in their blood, Austrian researchers reported at American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2002.
- Did you know that the parents' behavior can prompt kids to smoke? It true, according to a study presented at the 68th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in San Diego. "Hey, kid! Got a light?" "Clean that Ashtray!" "Go get my cigarettes."
- If one parent quits smoking by the time their child is 8 or 9 years old, the child's odds of becoming a daily or monthly smoker by age 17 or 18 is reduced by 25-percent, according to a study by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
- Parents, need a reason to quit? There is nearly a 40 percent reduction in the odds of a child becoming a daily smoker when both parents quit smoking, according to a Bricker, Leroux and colleagues study featured in Addiction.
* That figure jumps to 70 percent when the parents have ever smoked (see above).
- Some parents that smoke dramatically underestimate the threat that secondhand smoke poses to children. Asthmatic kids who live with smokers are 10 times less likely to be protected by any smoking ban in the home and car than children who live in homes with nonsmokers, according to study lead author Dr. Jill Halterman of the University of Rochester Medical Center (Ambulatory Pediatrics journal).
- * Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine and California have bans on smoking while driving with children in the car.
- * Canadian province Nova Scotia becomes the first in Canada to outlaw smoking in cars with children under 19 year old on April 1, 2008. There is a $394.50 fine.
* Starting June 1, 2008, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada outlaws smoking in automobiles with kids.
* Ontario bans smoking in vehicles carrying children under the age of 16 (June 16, 2008).
* The Yukon requires smoke-free vehicles for children under the age of 18 on May 15, 2008.
- * Australia's Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria passed smoking bans for vehicles with children. New South Wales and its largest city Sydney too.
- * Bangor, Maine, is the first US city to enforce a ban on adults smoking in cars if children under the age of 18 are present.
- * The state of Maine follows Bangor's lead and bans smoking in cars with children under the age of 16.
- * Drive in California with children present while you smoke and you face $100 fine starting January 1, 2008.
- * Keyport, a Monmouth County, NJ-based shore community bans smoking in vehicles with children present.
- * India's ban on smoking while driving started in March 2007.
- * Dubai may outlaw smoking while driving in 2009.
- Lungs affected in healthy kids whose parents smoke. These children have more breathing problems than children of non-smoking parents, Dr. Bert Arets from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and colleagues revealed at the American Thoracic Society's meeting in San Francisco.
- One-third of all children with attention deficit problems (ADHD) can blame their disability on their mothers smoking in pregnancy and on lead pollution, according to a study carried out at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Independent & The Independent).
- Around a third of US children age 18 and below live with an adult smoker. Unfortunately, they have an increased risk for respiratory and other health problems, according to a News and Numbers report by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
- Women who smoke during early pregnancy are more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects (CHD), according to study author Sadia Malik, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
- Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at risk of becoming overweight by the age of 8. Although prenatal smoking can cause low birth weight, it may raise the odds of excessive weight gain in childhood, according to a US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
- Smoking in pregnancy is tied to mental health problems, including anxiety disorders and depression, Dr. Renee D. Goodwin and colleagues at Columbia University, New York found (the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology).
- Pregnant smokers may have an increased risk of placental abruption, a condition that may threaten the lives of both the mother and fetus (in severe cases, up to 40 percent of the babies may die), according to a report by Dr. Cande Ananth, from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Dr. Sven Cnattingius, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
- Mothers and mothers-to-be, smoke during pregnancy and you baby may have abnormally high blood pressure the first few months of life, according to a Dutch study (Hypertension).
- In New Zealand, 50 percent of Maori women smoke and 80% of those smokers smoke while pregnant, according to and the Public Health Association.
- Since World War II, cigarette smoking, especially among women, may have indirectly contributed to the increasing asthma epidemic among children through increased exposure to ETS (environmental tobacco smoke), Dr. Renee D. Goodwin, of Columbia University in New York City revealed (Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology).
- Depression and other psychiatric problems may make it tougher for women to quit smoking during pregnancy, according to a new study led by Dr. Louise H. Flick of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (American Journal of Public Health).
- An estimated 11 percent of American women smoke during pregnancy (Reuters Health).
- Nearly half of all Queensland, Australia pregnant teenagers continue to smoke while pregnancy and 20 percent of all pregnant women smoke, according to the Queensland Perinatal Data Collection Unit.
- Up to 16 percent of pregnant female smokers are unable to quit smoking, Dr. Leslie K. Jacobsen of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven and colleagues pointed out. They studied prenatal smoke exposure, nicotine and attention problem in teens (Neuropsychopharmacology).
- Prenatal nicotine exposure significantly raise the chance of coronary problems in adult offspring, according to scientists from the Center for Perinatal Biology, Loma Linda University, California.
- Women who start smoking when they are teenagers are 70-percent more likely to develop breast cancer than non-smokers, according to Canadian scientists from Health Canada in Quebec and British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver.
- Smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day reduces the chances of IVF success and pregnancy in women, reports Dr Sergio Soares, of the IVI Clinic in Lisbon and his team (journal Human Reproduction).
- Women who smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day during pregnancy had a 29 percent increased risk of having a baby with finger or toe deformities. Smoking 11 to 20 cigarettes a day raised the risk by 38 percent, while smoking 21 or more cigarettes a day raised the risk by 78 percent, according to a study authored by Dr. Benjamin Chang, of the University of Pennsylvania, (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal, January).
- Women may prevent the weight gain that may come with quitting smoking with naltrexone, a drug that also treatments nicotine and alcohol cravings, suggests a study published in the Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
"Women have historically not responded as well as men to smoking-cessation treatment, so treatment strategies that show promise with helping them are very interesting," said study author Andrea King, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago (see above).
- Women smokers are more likely to have early menopause, before they reach 45 years old. The heaviest smokers were nearly twice as likely to have early menopause, Dr. Thea F. Mikkelsen of the University of Oslo (Norway) and colleagues found (online journal BMC Public Health).
- Future smokers may be programmed in womb, Dr Abdullah Al Mamun of the University of Queensland in Australia and team found in a study published in the journal Tobacco Control.
- Lungs affected in healthy kids whose parents smoke. These children have more breathing problems than children of non-smoking parents, Dr. Bert Arets from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and colleagues revealed at the American Thoracic Society's meeting in San Francisco.
- One-third of all children with attention deficit problems (ADHD) can blame their disability on their mothers smoking in pregnancy and on lead pollution, according to a study carried out at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Independent & The Independent).
- Around a third of US children age 18 and below live with an adult smoker. Unfortunately, they have an increased risk for respiratory and other health problems, according to a News and Numbers report by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
- Women who smoke during early pregnancy are more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects (CHD), according to study author Sadia Malik, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
- Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at risk of becoming overweight by the age of 8. Although prenatal smoking can cause low birth weight, it may raise the odds of excessive weight gain in childhood, according to a US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
- Smoking in pregnancy is tied to mental health problems, including anxiety disorders and depression, Dr. Renee D. Goodwin and colleagues at Columbia University, New York found (the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology).
- Pregnant smokers may have an increased risk of placental abruption, a condition that may threaten the lives of both the mother and fetus (in severe cases, up to 40 percent of the babies may die), according to a report by Dr. Cande Ananth, from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Dr. Sven Cnattingius, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
- Mothers and mothers-to-be, smoke during pregnancy and you baby may have abnormally high blood pressure the first few months of life, according to a Dutch study (Hypertension).
- Since World War II, cigarette smoking, especially among women, may have indirectly contributed to the increasing asthma epidemic among children through increased exposure to ETS (environmental tobacco smoke), Dr. Renee D. Goodwin, of Columbia University in New York City revealed (Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology).
- Depression and other psychiatric problems may make it tougher for women to quit smoking during pregnancy, according to a new study led by Dr. Louise H. Flick of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (American Journal of Public Health).
- An estimated 11 percent of American women smoke during pregnancy (Reuters Health).
- Up to 16 percent of pregnant female smokers are unable to quit smoking, Dr. Leslie K. Jacobsen of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven and colleagues pointed out. They studied prenatal smoke exposure, nicotine and attention problem in teens (Neuropsychopharmacology).
- Prenatal nicotine exposure significantly raise the chance of coronary problems in adult offspring, according to scientists from the Center for Perinatal Biology, Loma Linda University, California.
- Women who start smoking when they are teenagers are 70-percent more likely to develop breast cancer than non-smokers, according to Canadian scientists from Health Canada in Quebec and British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver.
- Smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day reduces the chances of IVF success and pregnancy in women, reports Dr Sergio Soares, of the IVI Clinic in Lisbon and his team (journal Human Reproduction).
- Women who smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day during pregnancy had a 29 percent increased risk of having a baby with finger or toe deformities. Smoking 11 to 20 cigarettes a day raised the risk by 38 percent, while smoking 21 or more cigarettes a day raised the risk by 78 percent, according to a study authored by Dr. Benjamin Chang, of the University of Pennsylvania, (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal, January).
- Women may prevent the weight gain that may come with quitting smoking with naltrexone, a drug that also treatments nicotine and alcohol cravings, suggests a study published in the Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
"Women have historically not responded as well as men to smoking-cessation treatment, so treatment strategies that show promise with helping them are very interesting," said study author Andrea King, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago (see above).
- Women smokers are more likely to have early menopause, before they reach 45 years old. The heaviest smokers were nearly twice as likely to have early menopause, Dr. Thea F. Mikkelsen of the University of Oslo (Norway) and colleagues found (online journal BMC Public Health).
- Future smokers may be programmed in womb, Dr Abdullah Al Mamun of the University of Queensland in Australia and team found in a study published in the journal Tobacco Control.
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Are you a parent that smokes? If so, learn the dangers you expose your children to, including secondhand smoke illinesses. Then quit smoking.
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