Smoking Ban Benefits Children By Reducing Secondhand Smoke Exposure

A new study shows the increasingly popular smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke exposure.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers have found that children living in non smoking homes in counties with laws promoting smoke free public places have significantly lower levels of secondhand smoke exposure than those living in counties with no smoke free laws.

The prevalence of cotinine in the blood, an indicator of tobacco smoke exposure, was 39% lower in children living in non smoking homes in U.S counties with smoke free laws. Unfortunately, children living in homes with smokers exhibited little or no benefit from the smoking bans.

Children are more susceptible to the toxic compounds in secondhand smoke because they have higher breathing rates and their lungs are still developing. Exposing a child to secondhand smoke can irritate the lungs, and can trigger an asthma attack in children with asthma.  Secondhand smoke has also been linked to respiratory illnesses and middle ear disease.

The researchers noted approximately 20 percent of the youth in the Harvard School of Public Health study lived with a smoker in the home. These children had the highest cotinine levels and could benefit the most from an intervention to reduce exposure, regardless of smoke free laws that might be in place.

Senior author of the paper, Gregory N. Connolly, said, “One way to reduce or prevent adults from smoking around children is for physicians to counsel parents to stop smoking.”

The study showing an enforced smoking ban benefits children by reducing secondhand smoke is in the June 7, 2910 advance online edition of the journal Pediatrics.