Effects on Children

Effects on Children Links

• Environmental Tobacco Smoke: A Hazard to Children Policy statement and report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, April 1997. Goes well beyond the EPA report. Updated bibliography covers the research.
  
• WHO Report on Tobacco Smoke and Child Health 1999 report summarizes the effects of secondhand smoke on children.
  
  
• Childhood asthma "Half the cases of early childhood asthma are due to secondhand cigarette smoke".
  
• Secondhand Smoke: information for Parents Secondhand smoke is responsible for $4.6 billion in medical costs each year for kids 17 and under. Yet secondhand smoke enjoys special freedrom from regulation: "If the federal government regulated tobacco smoke the same way it does other air pollutants, acceptable levels would be so small that they could be produced by one smoker in a building of a million square feet".
  
• The Burden of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure on the Respiratory Health of Children in the United States JAMA Asthma Information Center report: "approximately 38% of children were presently exposed to ETS in the home, and 23.8% were exposed by maternal smoking during pregnancy. This increased asthma and chronic bronchitis among the children exposed.
  
• Secondhand smoke affects cholesterol level in children Washington Post story on research result. Exposing children to secondhand cigarette smoke can lower their blood levels of protective forms of cholesterol ("good" cholesterol).
  
• HomeArts: HealthBeat -- Secondhand Smoke and Ear Infections in Kids Ear infections are the number one reason young children visit their doctors and take antibiotics. Ear infections are painful and can lead to hearing loss. A new study finds many of those infections could be avoided if parents who smoke would make one important change.
  
• Secondhand Smoke: Effects on Adults and Children Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Promotion pamphlet.
  
• Secondhand Smoke and Children American Academy of Otolaryngology public service brochure. What secondhand smoke does to: the fetus and newborn; children's lungs and respiratory tracts; the ears.
  
• Tobacco Smoke Affects Unborn Babies Factsheet from Ottawa-Carleton Health Department.
  
• Passive smoking and children: analysis of hazards Summary of an international symposium on health damages to kids from tobacco smoke. Provided in English and German languages.
  
• Parents.com: Smoke, secondhand Factsheet. Emphasis is on effects of secondhand smoke on children.
  
• Secondhand Smoke and Children Pamphlet on effects of secondhand smoke on children, from the American Academy of Otolarlyngology.
  
• Smoking Mom; A Possible Cause of Asthma in Children What makes this study of 4,331 kids different from other studies is that while previous studies have found that exposure to smoke can worsen asthmatic symptoms, this study says passive smoke can cause asthma.
  
• Secondhand Smoke and Children Secondhand smoke can cause SIDS, lung cancer, bronchitis, asthma, and heart disease in children. An article by essortment.com.
  
• Pediatric Advisor 10.0: Passive (Involuntary) Smoking Short summary emphasizes the near-term effects.
  
• Secondhand Smoke May Cause Cavities in Children Children whose parents smoke are more likely to develop dental cavities, according to recent research.
  
• Second Hand Smoke in Pregnancy Secondhand smoke can hurt unborn babies
  
• NRDC Pro: Our Children At Risk - Chapter 6 Secondhand smoke is an environmental health risk.
  
• Breast-feeding and Secondhand Exposure to Cigarettes Measures infants' exposure from maternal smoking.
  
• WHO: Children and Secondhand Smoke Tobacco Free Initiative, International Consultation on Environmental Tobacco, Smoke (ETS) and Child Health, Geneva Switzerland. Extensive summary of the research, exposure levels, effects.
  
• Fetus May Be Harmed by Second-Hand Smoke Summary of recent research.
  
• Children and Environmental Tobacco Smoke Canadian Institute of Child Health factsheet.
  
• Studies Show Smoking's Toll on Children Children exposed to cigarette smoke have stunted lung development and high lead exposure according to two new studies.
  
• Passive Smoking and Children Report of an international academic symposium held on August 24-25th, 1998, at the Medical School of Essen University, Germany.
  
• Second Hand Smoke & Kids Second hand smoke is a major cause of children's illness -- yet 85% of adults who smoke and who live with a child do not ensure that the child is not exposed to the smoke from their cigarettes. Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada provides background and research details.
  
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Respiratory Health in Children Review of a critical review and analysis of the sceintific literature from 1969 to 1998.
  
• Secondhand Smoke Looks at the facts on exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke and the development of asthma and other diseases in children.
  
• Medical Research Summaries - Short of Breath: The Link Between Smoking and SIDS Article summarizes what cigarette products do to children when used by adults before, during, and after pregnancy.
  
• Summarizing All We Know About The Asthma Epidemic Investigates reasons behind the rising incidence of asthma in children; one factor is secondhand smoke.
  
• AAP - Environmental Tobacco Smoke: A Danger to Children Short discussion from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
  
• Smoking. Maternal Smoking and Medical Expenditure for Childhood Respiratory Illness Short summary of study published in American Journal of Public Health. Maternal smoking was associated with increased health care expenditure of $120 per year for children under 5 years of age and $175 for children under two years.
  
• Federal Report on Kids at Risk from Passive Smoking GASP of Colorado Education Center summarizes recent research estimating number of kids exposed to secondhand smoke and its effets on their health.
  
• Secondhand Smoke and Your Family American Lung Association on secondhand smoke. Effects of secondhand smoke on children, and information on how you can protect them.
  
• OncoLink FAQ: How Can I Protect My Children from Secondhand Smoke Brief summary of risks and vulnerabilities, and what can be done.
  
• Clinical Briefs - American Family Physician, July 1997 Secondhand smoke is associated with increased illnesses in children, including lower respiratory disease, middle ear effusion, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome. One study found that the overall cancer risk was greater for individuals exposed to environmental tobacco smoke during both childhood and adulthood than for individuals with a history of exposure during only one of those periods.
  
• Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Children Factsheet summarizes the effects.
  
• Household Smoking Restrictions and Adolescents' Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke Scientific survey concludes that health risks experienced by adolescents living with adult smokers can be substantially reduced by household smoking restrictions.
  
• Strong Causal Relationship Between Parental Smoking and Childhood Morbidity and Mortality Memo cites and summarizes the scientific findings, and estimates the strength of the relationship.
  
• Fetal Nicotine or Cocaine Exposure: Which One is Worse? Research article compares measured effects of prenatal exposure to the substances.
  
• Passive Smoking: The Impact On Children ASH-UK report pulls together the latest research to assess how much secondhand smoke children are exposed to, the diseases that this is causing in children, the public awareness of these facts, and educational and policy strategies to reduce this harm.
  
• Children at Risk from ETS Young children and unborn infants are more vulnerable than adults to genetic damage from secondhand smoke, and exposures during early development increase the risk of cancer later in life, according to a study at Columbia University.
  
• Children and secondhand smoke 19-month old visits Grandpa's house; "as soon as we left, he began wheezing. That night he had a high fever and could barely breathe." Taken to the emergency room, he was diagnosed and admitted with pneumonia. What happened? At Grandpa's he was exposed to secondhand smoke. Unusual? Sadly, no. Each year, secondhand smoke causes up to 300,000 respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia in infants and young children.
  
• Poisoning Our Children Factsheet on effects of secondhand smoke on children, chemicals in secondhand smoke, exposure of children to secondhand smoke.
  
• Medical Research Summaries - Secondhand Smoke Exposure of Infants This parents' article emphasizes the importance of keeping infants away from secondhand smoke, both inside and outside of the home.
  
• AAP - Child Health Month Concise but fully footnoted factsheet on secondhand smoke and its effects on adults and children.
  
• Smokers' Children Risk Heart Disease Recent research shows that in teenagers who lived with smoking parents, their blood chemistry was changed and indicated increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
  
• Secondhand Smoke and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) Review of the research linking SIDS to secondhand smoke. "The effect is quite strong, results from the various studies are consistent, and dose-response relationships have been identified."
  
• Smokers' Children Breathe Less Easily Children of smokers have normal lung size, but their airways are smaller, making them more vulnerable to respiratory problems and more likely to be taken to the hospital with breathing problems, according to new research.
  
• Effects of ETS on Children Excerpted from EPA report, published by the National Conservation Guild, as part of their indoor air quality issues series.
  
• Second Hand Smoke & Canadian Kids One in three Canadian kids are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in their home. Analysis shows: what this means, what are the effects on thealth, and who's at risk.
  
• Growing up in Smoke is dangerous Children are Passive Smokers, and by the millions.
  
• Secondhand Smoke -- Dr. Greene's HouseCalls Practical answers to your pediatric questions from a caring, perceptive expert. Report on 1996 study: "the relative risk for breast cancer from passive smoke (primarily girls whose parent smoked or women whose spouse smoked) was 3.2! This makes passive smoking a more important risk factor than having a mother with breast cancer (2.1), or having an early first period (1.3), or having a late first pregnancy (1.4)."