When I was in school, there were lots of kids who smoked. Adolescence smoking could have been considered a problem in my hometown, for sure. People used to hang out at one of the local lakes and light up back in the woods. In fact, I wasn't particularly popular and happened upon a bunch of popular kids smoking in the woods. I incorrectly assumed if I smoked too, then I would be popular as well. The whole 1 plus 1 equals 3 argument. Thankfully, the initial smoking experience turned me off enough that it didn't stick.
There is talk in the medical and scientific community about what to do when these adolescents want to quit. Then if they quit, how do we keep them quit. A recent study looked at factors that caused relapse in adolescence smoking. Again, they want to understand how to design a cookie-cutter program for youth.
It was no shocker to me that they discovered a whole host of factors that caused relapse in adolescence smoking. I think the researchers need to remember what it was like when they were kids. Very little makes sense about kids. They're fighting hormones, peer pressures, acceptence, relational conflicts, the idea of being grown up, etc. There is no cookie-cutter approach smoking cessation or relapse prevention in adolescence smoking. Hey, they're just kids. Too many variables to consider.
IMHO, I think we should focus on establishing a strong parental relationship with their kids. If there aren't any parents or if they're duds, then we should focus our attention on getting them help. My guess would be that smoking is probably the least of those kids' problems. Don't get me wrong, but suicide, crime and other social ills probably rank higher on the priority list than does adolescence smoking for those at risk kids.
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Second Hand Smoke and Children
I've told this story before as an example of second hand smoke and children, but when I was a kid, my dad smoked. He used to smoke while driving the car, but he would at least crack open the window. I guess he knew back then that second hand smoke and children in the back seat don't mix very well. He probably wasn't looking out for our health, instead he was just trying to be polite. I admire him for that. Back then though, very little was known about the dangers of second hand smoke and children, or just second hand smoke in general.
Today, we live in a different era of science and health. However, despite this knowledge, people continue to smoke at astonishing rates. Roughly 20% of all Americans smoke, which means lots of us are still exposed to second hand smoke. As you'd expect, the researchers have done exhaustive studies detailing the hazards associated with second hand smoke and children. Here is one recent example.
This study looked at parental smoking and rate of ear infections (or what they called middle ear disease) in their children. They evaluated the effects that maternal postnatal smoking had and the effect that smoking of any household member had on ear infections. They found that living with a smoker increased the risk of ear infections significantly. Interestingly, prenatal smoking of either parent also increased the risk, but not significantly.
The strongest effect second hand smoking had on children was discovered as the risk of surgery for ear infections. The parent's postnatal smoking habit almost doubled the odds that their child would require a surgery. The researchers estimate that almost 300,000 ear infections in the US are attributable to second hand smoke.
Thankfully, my mom didn't smoke or our risk of having ear infections would have been much higher. Also, thankfully, my dad tried rather hard to keep the smoke out of our face. So by reducing our exposure to his exhaled smoke, we didn't have to become one of those second hand smoke and children statistics.
Today, we live in a different era of science and health. However, despite this knowledge, people continue to smoke at astonishing rates. Roughly 20% of all Americans smoke, which means lots of us are still exposed to second hand smoke. As you'd expect, the researchers have done exhaustive studies detailing the hazards associated with second hand smoke and children. Here is one recent example.
This study looked at parental smoking and rate of ear infections (or what they called middle ear disease) in their children. They evaluated the effects that maternal postnatal smoking had and the effect that smoking of any household member had on ear infections. They found that living with a smoker increased the risk of ear infections significantly. Interestingly, prenatal smoking of either parent also increased the risk, but not significantly.
The strongest effect second hand smoking had on children was discovered as the risk of surgery for ear infections. The parent's postnatal smoking habit almost doubled the odds that their child would require a surgery. The researchers estimate that almost 300,000 ear infections in the US are attributable to second hand smoke.
Thankfully, my mom didn't smoke or our risk of having ear infections would have been much higher. Also, thankfully, my dad tried rather hard to keep the smoke out of our face. So by reducing our exposure to his exhaled smoke, we didn't have to become one of those second hand smoke and children statistics.
Secondhand Smoke Exposure in School Age Children
I find it surprising to find continued studies on secondhand smoke (SHS), sometimes referred to as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). It seems like every study that comes out says the exact same thing. But perhaps there are still people out there who feel SHS is just a tool used to infringe on the rights of smokers in public places. It truly baffles the mind.
Okay, with that said...a recent study in the Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia [Jan;17(1):20-26] looked at ETS exposure on school age kids. They wanted to see if they had higher prevalency rates for respiratory diseases and symptoms (aka: respiratory morbidity). They looked at pre-natal maternal smoking and post-natal ETS exposure. They also observed the socioeconomic indicators to see what they might find. The study enrolled 313 kids from 4 public schools in Lisbon. The researchers stayed with the first and fourth grade classes. Okay, any guesses what they found?
"Well I'll be!" (to quote Gomer Pyle). Constant and others found that smoking exposure was bad for the kids. Wow, isn't this an amazing discovery? Okay, maybe not so much.
Roughly 41% of the homes had ETS exposure. This broke down as follows:
Maternal pre-natal smoking 18%
Maternal post-natal smoking 32%
Paternal smoking 38%
Children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy and had both parents continue to smoke afterwards, had a higher incidence of wheezing. Children with a smoking Mom had a more frequent cough. All these results were significant.
Now, the researchers were not able to find any greater incidence of respiratory infections or asthma in children as a direct result of the child's parent's smoking status.
Interestingly, the smoking Dads had a lower education level and were in a less qualified occupation than the non-smoking fathers. This has also been born out in the literature, that smoking is a syndrome of the lesser educated. No offense intended, but rather just a well studied, no bones about it, scientific fact.
So how does this affect the everyday smoker? Well, don't smoke if you're pregnant and don't smoke around your kids, your nephews/nieces, or anyone else's kids for that matter. A better option though, would be to use this as a primary motivator to help you quit. There you go, if you were looking for one more reason to stop smoking, we just gave you one.
Okay, with that said...a recent study in the Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia [Jan;17(1):20-26] looked at ETS exposure on school age kids. They wanted to see if they had higher prevalency rates for respiratory diseases and symptoms (aka: respiratory morbidity). They looked at pre-natal maternal smoking and post-natal ETS exposure. They also observed the socioeconomic indicators to see what they might find. The study enrolled 313 kids from 4 public schools in Lisbon. The researchers stayed with the first and fourth grade classes. Okay, any guesses what they found?
"Well I'll be!" (to quote Gomer Pyle). Constant and others found that smoking exposure was bad for the kids. Wow, isn't this an amazing discovery? Okay, maybe not so much.
Roughly 41% of the homes had ETS exposure. This broke down as follows:
Maternal pre-natal smoking 18%
Maternal post-natal smoking 32%
Paternal smoking 38%
Children whose mothers smoked during their pregnancy and had both parents continue to smoke afterwards, had a higher incidence of wheezing. Children with a smoking Mom had a more frequent cough. All these results were significant.
Now, the researchers were not able to find any greater incidence of respiratory infections or asthma in children as a direct result of the child's parent's smoking status.
Interestingly, the smoking Dads had a lower education level and were in a less qualified occupation than the non-smoking fathers. This has also been born out in the literature, that smoking is a syndrome of the lesser educated. No offense intended, but rather just a well studied, no bones about it, scientific fact.
So how does this affect the everyday smoker? Well, don't smoke if you're pregnant and don't smoke around your kids, your nephews/nieces, or anyone else's kids for that matter. A better option though, would be to use this as a primary motivator to help you quit. There you go, if you were looking for one more reason to stop smoking, we just gave you one.
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