Clinical Reference Systems: Pediatric Advisor 10.0
Passive (Involuntary) Smoking
Nonsmoking children who live in homes with smokers are
involuntarily exposed to cigarette smoke. This situation is
called "passive smoking."
The smoke comes from two sources: secondhand smoke and
sidestream smoke. Secondhand smoke is the smoke exhaled by
the smoker. Sidestream smoke is the smoke that rises off
the end of a burning cigarette. Most of the smoke in a room
is sidestream smoke. Sidestream smoke contains two or three
times more harmful chemicals than secondhand smoke because
it does not pass through the cigarette filter. At its
worst, a child in a very smoky room for one hour with
several smokers inhales as many bad chemicals as he would by
actually smoking 10 or more cigarettes.
In general, children of smoking mothers absorb more smoke
into their bodies than children of smoking fathers because
they spend more time with their mothers. Children who are
breast-fed by a smoking mother are at the greatest risk
because chemicals from the smoke are in the breast milk as
well as the surrounding air.
HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PASSIVE SMOKING ON CHILDREN
Children who live in a house where someone smokes have more
respiratory infections. Their symptoms are also more severe
and last longer than those of children who live in a
smoke-free home.
The impact of passive smoke is worse during the first five
years of life, when children spend most of their time with
their parents. The more smokers there are in a household
and the more they smoke, the more severe a child's symptoms
are.
Passive smoking is especially hazardous to children who have
asthma. Exposure to smoke causes more severe asthma
attacks, more emergency room visits, and more admissions to
the hospital. These children are also less likely to
outgrow their asthma.
The following conditions are worsened by passive smoking:
- pneumonia
- coughs or bronchitis
- croup or laryngitis
- wheezing or bronchiolitis
- asthma attacks
- flu (influenza)
- ear infections
- middle ear fluid and blockage
- colds or upper respiratory infections
- sinus infections
- sore throats
- eye irritation
- crib deaths (SIDS)
- school absenteeism caused by illness.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM PASSIVE SMOKING
- Give up smoking.
You can stop smoking if you get help. Sign up for a
stop-smoking class or program. If you need some
self-help reading materials, call your local American
Lung Association or American Cancer Society office. If
you want your child not to smoke, set a good example by
not smoking yourself.
It is even more important to give up smoking if you are
pregnant. The unborn baby of a smoking mother has twice
the risk for prematurity and newborn complications. You
must also avoid smoking if you are breast-feeding
because harmful chemicals from the smoke get into the
breast milk.
The Surgeon General of the United States would like our
country to become a smoke-free society by the year 2000.
For more information call the National Cancer Institute
on their toll-free line: 1-800-4-CANCER.
- Never smoke inside your home.
Some parents find it very difficult to give up smoking,
but all parents can change their smoking habits. Smoke
only when you are away from home. If you have to smoke
when you are home, smoke only in your garage or on the
porch.
If you have to smoke inside your house, decide which
room in your home will be a smoking room. Keep the door
to this room closed and open a window sometimes to let
fresh air into the room. Wear an overshirt in this room
so your underlying clothing does not collect the smoke.
Never allow your child inside this room. Don't smoke in
any other parts of the house. Visitors must also smoke
only in this one room.
- Never smoke when you are close to your child.
If you cannot limit your smoking to one room, at least
don't smoke when you are holding your child. Never
smoke in a car when your child is a passenger. Never
smoke when you are feeding or bathing your child. Never
smoke in your child's bedroom. These precautions will
reduce your child's exposure to smoke and protect him
from cigarette burns. Even doing just this much will
help your child to some degree.
- Avoid leaving your child with someone who smokes.
Ask about smoking when you are looking for day care
centers or baby sitters. If your child has asthma, this
safeguard is crucial.
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