Cigarette Smoke And Children
December 1, 2008 by rainier
Did you know that a baby living with people who smoke inside the house or car can inhale the smoke of 80 cigarettes by its first birthday!Why?
Environmental Tobacco Smoke (passive smoke) is the smoke breathed out by a smoker and from the end of a lit cigarette. It may be visible or invisible and contains more dangerous chemicals than the smoke inhaled by a smoker. It particularly affects young children because their lungs
are smaller and more delicate.
Passive smoke contains:
• nicotine (the addictive drug in cigarettes)
• tar (which coats the inside of lungs, making it harder to breathe)
• the same gas that comes from car exhausts (so the heart needs to work harder).
Children who are exposed to other people’s smoke:
• are more likely to develop asthma
• have more frequent asthma attacks
• have poorer lung function and slower lung growth
• have more ear, nose, throat and chest infections
• are more at risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (cot death).
The 4000 chemicals in passive smoke can make your child sick. Smoke outside the house and car and politely ask other people not to smoke near children.
