Parents must keep homes smoke free for children’s health

More than 700 million children worldwide are regularly exposed to cigarette smoke. New scientific conclusions warn that cardiovascular effects of passive smoking by a newborn infant manifest early on and in some cases are strong.

In particular, they conclude that blood pressure was a 20-fold up difference in passive smokers infants. Those infants most affected have also directly breathed smoky air for several months after birth, most likely at home.

In this study, published in the journal Acta Paediatrica, researchers from Sweden, Greece and Spain (CREAL, ISGlobal alliance research centre) studied children from the RHEA cohort in Crete. Researchers compared 4- to 6-month olds of lifelong nonsmokers who were minimally (controls, n = 9) or frequently exposed to tobacco smoke (passive smokers; n = 10) with those born to habitual smokers (n = 6). Blood pressure (BP) of the infants was measured during brief repositioning manoeuvres performed during a daytime nap.

“Breathing smoky air is far more hazardous to early development that we realize, so parents must keep the home rigorously smoke free”, remarked Dr. Manolis Kogevinas, CREAL codirector and co-author of this study.

Reference: Adverse circulatory effects of passive smoking during infancy: surprisingly strong, manifest early, easily avoided. Cohen G, Vardavas C, Patelarou E, Kogevinas M, Katz-Salamon M.Acta Paediatr. 2013 Dec 12. doi: 10.1111/apa.12538.