Parents who smoke in front of their children expose them to the toxic chemicals found in passive cigarette smoke, but surely this is only seen in older kids, right?
"Researchers issue new warning on risks of smoking near babies"
Parents who smoke near their newborn babies are turning their children into heavy passive smokers and putting them in danger of breathing problems and cot [crib] death, a new study shows. Tiny babies with at least one parent who smokes have more than five times the usual level of cotinine - a chemical metabolite of nicotine - [compared to babies with non-smoking parents], tests showed.
The researchers also discovered that if only one parent smoked and it was the mother, the amount of cotinine in the infant's urine was increased by a factor of four, compared to the father. I assume that this is because the father is more likely to be gone during the day (working, one presumes) while the mother cares for the baby.
Children who live in the same house with smoking adults are at risk for several serious health problems. Here are three to remember:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
...approximately 30-40% of all cases of SIDS could be avoided if all pregnant women stopped smoking in a population with 30% pregnant smokers.
Premature Atherosclerosis
Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke [ETS] confirmed by serum cotinine concentrations impairs endothelial function in a dose-dependent manner in 11-year-old children.
Asthma
Salivary cotinine level was significantly increased in children with DDA [doctor-diagnosed asthma] compared to those without (P = 0.002). The use of salivary cotinine as an indicator of ETS exposure could be used to inform parents of exposure risk to their asthmatic children and may help re-enforce deterrent efforts to reduce childhood parental smoking exposure.
The study on cotinine levels in infants also reported that levels of the metabolite were higher in the winter months, in cold rooms, and in homes where the baby shared a bed with the parents - all of which makes sense as smokers don't open the windows during cold weather, and smoke-contaminated clothing is more likely to pass nicotine along to a swaddled babe when the kid is lying next to the smoker, which is a risk factor for SIDS in its own right.
What is our take home message today, gang? All together now:
Comments
Remember what the R.J. Reynolds chair (Charles Harper) said about children and second-hand smoke?
I found this and other disgusting quotes here.
Posted by: Zeno | June 20, 2007 8:44 AM
It's really astounding to me that there is still a large population that smokes around their infants. I mean I see it often, but part of my mind that's optimistic towards humanity just says 'Oh, that's an isolated incident. It's not happening all the time.' My dad gave up smoking his pipe when my mother's pregnancy test came back positive, and he hasn't smoked since. And that was in 1978.
Posted by: Jenbug | June 27, 2007 12:19 PM
"Thankfully, California is trying to ban smoking in parks, alone in a car, etc." (The nanny state is alive and well!)
Next: a fat-o-meter to be implanted in your esophagus to register the amount of saturated fat that you eat. Your medical insurance premiums will increase proportionately with the fat intake.
If that doesn't work, the device is equipped with a electric shock mechanism to deliver an increasingly vicious jolt with every Big Mac consumed."
Posted by: Scott S. | July 9, 2007 6:35 PM
Scott S wrote: "(The nanny state is alive and well!)"
In this case, the nanny state is only concerned about the welfare of the children (as is proper for a nanny).
Posted by: Tristram Brelstaff | December 27, 2007 3:52 PM