Secondhand Smoke & Children

• Approximately 38% of US children aged two months to five years of age are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home (Pediatrics, 1998)
• Secondhand smoke annually causes 150,000 to 300,000 cases per year of lower respiratory infections in babies under the age of 18 months, resulting in 15,000 hospital admissions, and worsening of asthma in 400,000 to 1,000,000 children, each year in the US (National Cancer Institute, 1999)
• Exposure to secondhand smoke substantially increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections, and is responsible for an estimated 436,000 cases of bronchitis and 190,000 cases of pneumonia and 16% of all lung functions in US children under the age of 5 annually (Pediatrics, 1997)
• Secondhand smoke, even at low levels, has been shown to decrease reading, math, and logic and reasoning skills in children and adolescents (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 2003)
• Children exposed to household smoking are at greater risk of requiring surgery for recurrent ear infections and tonsillitis – 21,000 or 24% of all tonsillectomies (removal of tonsils) and adenoidectomies (removal of the adenoids) in US children 15 years or younger annually are attributable to secondhand smoke (Pediatrics, 1997)
• Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with a higher risk of developing asthma and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children (18 years of younger) who already have the disease. (Pediatrics, 1991)
• Children with asthma exposed to the secondhand smoke had 70% more asthma attacks than those with little or no exposure (New England Journal of Medicine, 1993)
• Each year in the US, an estimated 13% of all asthma cases and more than half a million physician visits for asthma are due to secondhand smoke exposure in the home (Pediatrics, 1997)

SECONDHAND SMOKE AND TEENS

• Almost 50% of North Carolina’s youth are exposed to secondhand smoke every day (2005 NC Youth Tobacco Survey)
• According to a study in the American Heart Association’s online journal Circulation, exposure to secondhand smoke raises the risk among teens of metabolic syndrome, which is a disorder associated with excess belly fat that increases the chances of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
• Results from national surveys on youth smoking strongly suggest smoke free workplaces and homes are associated with significantly lower rates of adolescent smoking (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2000)
• Nonsmoking adolescents, who are exposed to secondhand smoke by their parents, have higher cholesterol levels than adolescents who do not smoke, which places them at higher risk for heart disease (Pediatrics, 1991)

SECONDHAND SMOKE AND EXPECTANT AND/OR NEW PARENTS

• Pregnant women who smoke and nonsmoking pregnant women exposed daily to tobacco smoke are more likely to have low birth weight babies at risk for death and disease in infancy and early childhood (US Environmental Protection Agency, 1992)
• Nursing mothers who smoke can pass along harmful chemicals from cigarettes to their babies in breast milk (Pediatrics, 1991)
• It is estimated that more than one-third (35%) of all deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are due to maternal tobacco use. US children are three times more likely to die from SIDS caused by maternal smoking than die from homicide or child abuse (Journal of Family Practice, 1995)