If Parent Smokes, Kids Face Added Risks
Exposure is linked to more frequent and serious infections

(HealthDay News) -- Count your children. That's how many additional reasons you have to quit smoking.

That's because researchers have now determined that children who live in households where someone smokes are more likely to get severe infections, including meningococcal disease. Evidence already exists that these children also face an added risk of developing asthma and respiratory infections.

The worst time to smoke around children appears to be when they're newborns, especially if the baby is premature or underweight.

Experts think that children have weaker immune systems that can't cope with the multitude of dangerous chemicals that come with smoke and thus leave them open to infections. The American Lung Association reports that cigarette smoke contains more than 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer.

"This is just adding to the list of why people should not be smoking," Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City , told HealthDay . "It's probably that smoking is not just a respiratory irritant, but many things in smoke affect the immune system."

For the study, researchers from the University of Hong Kong tracked 7,402 children born in that city in April and May of 1997 (representing almost 80 percent of all children born in Hong Kong in that time) until they turned 8 in 2005.

Exposure to secondhand smoke within a distance of about 10 feet in early life was associated with a 14 percent increased risk of being hospitalized for infectious diseases until age 8.

And exposure to secondhand smoke during a baby's first six months increased by 45 percent the likelihood that the child would be hospitalized by age 8. Babies born prematurely were twice as likely to be hospitalized, and those born with a low birth weight were 75 percent more likely to be hospitalized during the first eight years of life, the study found.

"The major strength of the study is that it was done in Hong Kong, where they can follow 80-plus percent of a birth cohort," Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, told HealthDay . "The respiratory findings are not new, the other infections are."

So if the study's findings spark parents' interest in quitting smoking, the American Lung Association suggests:

• Join a stop-smoking program. Groups are one way to meet other people who want to stop smoking.
• Pick a good time to quit. Don't try to quit when under a lot of stress.
• Be aware that smokers have different experiences when they quit. They may feel sleepy or excited, lightheaded, nervous or irritable. Some might crave tobacco or sweets, and others might have headaches.
• Be sure to get some exercise every day.
• Get plenty of sleep, eat a balanced diet and drink lots of water.
• Ask family, friends and co-workers to help. Having someone to take a walk with or just listen can give a needed boost.

On the Web

To learn more about secondhand smoke and children, visit the American Lung Association.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Len Horovitz, M.D., pulmonary specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; John Saito, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and chief of pediatric pulmonary, allergy and immunology and director, Cystic Fibrosis Center, Scott & White Hospital, Temple, Texas; Norman Edelman, M.D., chief medical officer, American Lung Association, New York City; May 28, 2008, Tobacco Control , online; American Lung Association (www.lungusa.org)
Author: Anne Thompson
Publication Date: May 31, 2009
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.