Parents Who Smoke Can Convey Nonsmoking Messages to Kids

Even parents who smoke can take steps to prevent their children from lighting up, say researchers from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

With the help of children, parents, and teachers, researchers developed a program called Smoke-free Kids. About every 2 weeks for about 3 months, parents received printed activity guides that discussed the importance of preventing smoking by:

• eliminating a child's exposure to passive smoke
• talking to a child about smoking
• making cigarettes inaccessible
• monitoring the smoking behavior of a child and his or her friends
• setting disciplinary consequences for smoking

Parents in the Smoke-free Kids program also received other materials, such as tip sheets, incentives, and newsletters.

In this study, researchers divided 776 third graders and their parents (all of whom smoked) into two groups: One group participated in the Smoke-free Kids program and the other group (the control group) simply received fact sheets about preventing smoking. Prior to the start of the study and 3 years later, the children reported whether they had ever tried smoking. Parents also answered questions about whether their child's friends smoked.

The results? Only 12% of children who'd been enrolled in the Smoke-free Kids program took their first puff of a cigarette by the time they reached sixth grade - but 19% of kids whose parents received only fact sheets had tried smoking.

What This Means to You: Parents who smoke may feel like hypocrites when they urge their children to avoid tobacco, but the results of this study suggest that talking to kids about smoking and following up with disciplinary consequences for smoking can prevent kids with smoking parents from lighting up.

However, keep in mind that not smoking at all is the best way to set a good example and ensure that your child's health isn't damaged by tobacco. If someone in your home smokes, he or she should quit to protect the health and wellness of your child. In addition, don't allow anyone - even visitors - to smoke in your home. For more information about how to quit smoking, talk to your doctor or visit QuitNet.com.

Source: Christine Jackson, PhD; Denise Dickinson, MPH; Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, January 2006.

Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: February 2006

Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.

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