Passive (Involuntary) Smoking

Nonsmoking children who live in homes with smokers are involuntarily exposed to cigarette smoke. This situation is called "passive smoking."

The smoke comes from two sources: secondhand smoke and sidestream smoke.

Secondhand smoke is the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Sidestream smoke is the smoke that rises off the end of a burning cigarette. Most of the smoke in a room is sidestream smoke. Sidestream smoke contains two or three times more harmful chemicals than secondhand smoke because it does not pass through the cigarette filter. At its worst, a child in a very smoky room for one hour with several smokers inhales as many bad chemicals as he would by actually smoking 10 or more cigarettes.

Children who are breast-fed by a smoking mother are at the greatest risk because chemicals from the smoke are in the breast milk as well as the surrounding air.

Children who live in a house where someone smokes have more respiratory infections. Their symptoms are also more severe and last longer than those of children who live in a smoke-free home.

The impact of passive smoke is worse during the first five years of life, when children spend most of their time with their parents. The more smokers there are in a household and the more they smoke, the more severe a child's symptoms are.

The following conditions are worsened by passive smoking:

• pneumonia
• coughs or bronchitis
• croup or laryngitis
• wheezing or bronchiolitis
• asthma attacks
• flu (influenza)
• ear infections
• middle ear fluid and blockage
• colds or upper respiratory infections
• sinus infections
• sore throats
• eye irritation
• crib deaths (SIDS)
• school absenteeism caused by illness

Tobacco smoke is irritating to the airways in several ways. Smoke is made up of chemicals and very small pieces of ash that remain in the air long after the cigarette, pipe, or cigar is out. Children breathe in these airborne chemicals and ash, which cause the muscles around the airways to squeeze tight, making it difficult for the child to breathe.

Coughing, wheezing and a tight feeling in the chest are frequent complaints of children forced to breathe second-hand smoke. The smell of smoke on clothes and furniture and in the car can trigger an acute asthma episode for a child with sensitive airways. Breathing second-hand smoke as a child can affect the lungs throughout life!

Give up smoking.

It's one of the most important things you can do for the health of your children and the best way to prevent your child from being exposed. 


Never smoke inside  your home.

Some parents find it very difficult to give up smoking, but all parents can change their smoking habits. Smoke only when you are away from home. If you have to smoke when you are at home, smoke only in your garage or on the porch.

If you have to smoke inside your house, decide which room in your home will be a smoking room. Keep the door to this room closed and open a window sometimes to let fresh air into the room. Wear an overshirt in this room so your underlying clothing does not collect the smoke. Never allow your child inside this room. Don't smoke in any other parts of the house. Visitors must also smoke only in this one room.

Never smoke when you are close to your child.

If you cannot limit your smoking to one room, at least don't smoke when you are holding your child. Never smoke in a car when your child is a passenger. Never smoke when you are feeding or bathing your child. Never smoke in your child's bedroom. These precautions will reduce your child's exposure to smoke and protect him from cigarette burns. Even doing just this much will help your child to some degree.

Avoid leaving your child with someone who smokes.

Ask about smoking when you are looking for day care centers or baby sitters. If your child has asthma, this safeguard is crucial.

As a parent, you are a role model.  Children watch what their parents do. If your child sees you smoking, he or she may want to try smoking and grow up to become a smoker as well.

Cigarette smoking by children and adolescents causes the same health problems that affect adults.