Last week, when the world was observing No Tobacco Day, I met a child who used to get frequent attacks of asthma.
Kids of smokers are more prone to asthma, pneumonia, colds, ear infections and even tuberculosis
Dr RK Anand
Last week, when the world was observing No Tobacco Day, I met a child who used to get frequent attacks of asthma. I was delighted to learn that the severity and frequency of his attacks diminished dramatically after his father decided to quit smoking.
How does the child suffer if the parents smoke?
Harmful effects of passive smoking or second-hand smoke include danger to the foetus if the mother smokes; danger to the child later in life; and the trauma of sickness and death of parents who smoke.
It is estimated that almost half of the world’s children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke, particularly at home. On World Cancer Day, parents were given the following message: “Second-hand smoke is a health hazard for you and your family. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Give your child a smoke-free childhood.”
Children whose parents smoke at home or in the car are exposed to around 4,800 harmful chemicals, of which 69 can cause cancer. Such children are more prone to asthma, pneumonia, middle-ear infections, persistent colds and tuberculosis than children who are not exposed. Infants exposed to parental smoking have a higher risk of succumbing to a tragic condition called ‘sudden infant death syndrome’ too.
Research by Dr Wailoo and his colleagues from the University of Leicester shows that babies with at least one parent who smokes have five times the amount of a harmful nicotine byproduct in their urine than infants whose parents are non-smokers. Infants who slept with their parents tended to be at a greater risk, which may have been because they had greater exposure to parents’ smoke-contaminated clothing. Here, it may also be mentioned that the harmful agents in the smoke linger on in the atmosphere for several days after a person stops smoking.
A word about the ‘sidestream’ cigarette smoke — the smoke that rises from the tip of the burning cigarette between puffs: Please note that sidestream smoke is four times more toxic than inhaled mainstream smoke inhaled directly by the smoker.
Danger to the foetus
Smoking may cause birth defects, ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous abortion. Babies born to women who smoke are smaller than infants born to non-smoking women.
Danger later on in life
Children exposed to tobacco smoke are at an increased risk of cancer and heart disease when they reach adulthood. Also, children whose parents smoke are twice as likely to smoke as they grow up than are children of non-smokers.
Sickness and death of parents
Tobacco kills one person every six seconds. It could take a toll of the only bread earner or a home maker who nurtures the child.
Dr RK Anand is senior paediatrician at the Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai
healthline@dnaindia.net
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