|
||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||
|
Patients & Consumers: EPA Smoke-Free Home
Campaign
Children and Tobacco Smoke Exposure It may seem obvious to many people that it is dangerous to expose children to tobacco smoke. Nevertheless, a sizeable percentage of the population expose children, both before birth (prenatally) and after birth (postnatally) to tobacco smoke. Therefore, it is important to review the many adverse effects that follow from tobacco smoke exposure. The first exposure that many children have with tobacco smoke is prenatally. Research has shown that, even though a fetus cannot breath tobacco smoke, children born to mothers who smoke are at greatly increased risk to have reduced lung function, wheezing, and asthma. Other risks from prenatal maternal smoking include decreased birth size and weight as well as increased risk for the development of allergic diseases. Furthermore, a pregnant mother does not have to actively smoke to expose her fetus to harm from tobacco smoke since passive maternal exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy is associated with an increased incidence of asthma. The damage to children that comes from exposure to tobacco smoke does not end after being born. In fact, exposing young children to tobacco smoke can be harmful in a variety of ways. For instance, tobacco smoke exposure is associated with the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This association may be due the finding that infants born to mothers who smoke have to a reduced drive to breathe and a reduced response to low oxygen. Children exposed to tobacco smoke are also at increased risk for cough, wheeze, ear infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, allergic diseases, and hospital admission for asthma and have been shown to have both decreased lung function and abnormal lung responsiveness to triggers. Furthermore, children of smokers are more likely to have tonsillectomies. In addition, children of smokers have more days of restricted activity and school absence per year. The risks of tobacco smoke exposure may not end in early childhood. There is evidence that older children and adolescents model the behaviors of their parents, such as smoking. Adolescents who smoke can experience damage from smoking very quickly. In conclusion, exposure to tobacco smoke can cause a variety of harmful effects to children. These harmful effects to children may be experienced both prenatally and postnatally. The good news is that the harmful effects of exposure to tobacco smoke are entirely preventable: pregnant women and children should never be exposed to tobacco smoke. |
|||||||||||||
|
© 1996-2008 · All Rights Reserved · American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology |
||||||||||||||
