The Importance of Protecting Kids From Secondhand Smoke

Smoking sections are becoming ancient history as businesses, restaurants, airlines, and many states have realized that breathing in other people's smoke is just plain bad for everyone. But the message about the hazards of secondhand smoke hasn't taken hold in some American homes — many kids are in daily contact with toxic tobacco smoke.

Nearly 60% of 3- to 11-year-olds in the United States (almost 22 million kids) are exposed to secondhand smoke, says the U.S. Surgeon General. And parents themselves are responsible for 90% of this exposure, according to a 2004 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently put it, "There is no absolutely safe way to smoke around children." That's why the AAP has teamed with the U.S. Surgeon General to help doctors educate moms and dads about the urgency of eliminating all secondhand smoke from kids' lives — in the car, home, school, day care, and other people's homes.

About Secondhand Smoke

When kids are around someone who's smoking, they're breathing in both the smoke that's being exhaled (called mainstream smoke) and the smoke coming from the end of a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe (called sidestream smoke).

Secondhand smoke contains 250-plus chemicals proven to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer-causing), from arsenic ammonia to hydrogen cyanide. What's worse, concentrations of many of these chemicals are higher in secondhand smoke than in the smoke inhaled by smokers.

And for kids, whose lungs are still developing, the effects can be particularly damaging. Secondhand smoke puts kids at serious increased risk for:

• respiratory infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia) that can send children to the hospital
• middle ear infections, which may require surgically inserted ear tubes if the infections are frequent and/or aren't easily treated
• asthma — secondhand smoke can cause asthma in kids and trigger attacks in those who already have it
• slow lung growth
• respiratory symptoms like coughing, which may make it harder for kids to exercise and be physically active

When a woman smokes during pregnancy or is regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, nicotine and carbon monoxide are passed to her growing baby. If an expectant mom smokes, it could cause:

• stillbirth
• prematurity
• low birth weight
• asthma and other respiratory problems
• childhood cancer, leukemia, lymphomas, and brain tumors
• sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

What This Means to You

If you smoke and have (or are expecting) a child, quitting is the only way to significantly reduce exposure to toxic tobacco chemicals. You wouldn't light a cigarette, put it in your child's mouth, and encourage your little one to puff away. As ridiculous as this seems, parents who continue to smoke — or let anyone else smoke — around kids are in effect allowing their children to smoke, too.

That's not to say that kicking the habit can’t be extremely hard — it might take several attempts and the extra help of a program or support group.

While you work on quitting, it's critical to limit kids' smoke exposure:

• Never smoke during pregnancy or around infants.
• Always take your smoke breaks outside — away from kids and anyone who's pregnant. Smoke lingers in the air hours after cigarettes are put out, so if you light up anywhere inside your home, your children are inhaling your smoke, too.
• Never smoke in your car with kids — exhaling out the window does little, if anything, to reduce their exposure.
• Insist on smoke-free policies wherever kids go — school, day care, restaurants, businesses, and other people's homes.