Secondhand Smoke Tearing Families Apart

Yahoo News

The American Legacy Foundation announced today in a new report, Secondhand Smoke Tearing Families Apart, that children bear a significant health burden from exposure to secondhand smoke. Despite increased awareness about the dangers of smoking in recent years, 46 million adult Americans still smoke. This widespread use of tobacco is not only having expected long-term effects on the health of smokers but also more immediate effects on America's children.

Passive exposure to secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), puts young people at risk for serious health consequences, including low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, asthma and ear infections. While the health consequences are devastating, the Foundation's report also details the significant economic costs of treating children with smoking-related illnesses.

The Foundation found that, in 2001, tobacco's effects on children included:

    * Nearly 300,000 pediatric asthma cases costing the nation more than $236
      million
    * More than 99,000 cases of ear infections costing the nation nearly $49
      million
    * More than 26,000 low birth weight births costing the nation more than
      $300 million
    * 263 cases of sudden infant death syndrome

The Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlined three immediate steps smokers can take for their children's health:

    * Make your home smoke free
    * Keep your car smoke free
    * Stop smoking for your children

A small reduction in tobacco smoke exposure would spare thousands of children from devastating health problems. In this report the Foundation found that if states were to reduce children's exposure to secondhand smoke by one percentage point, the national outlook would be:

    * 2,263 fewer low birth weight births and an associated health care cost
      savings of nearly $27 million
    * 21 fewer smoking-attributable sudden infant death syndrome deaths
    * 19,077 fewer cases of asthma and an associated savings of more than $15
      million
    * 6,755 fewer ear infections cases with savings of more than $3 million

Recognizing the challenges of stopping smoking, the Foundation supports a number of cessation campaigns, including Bob Quits. This reality-TV-based advertising campaign currently running in the metro-DC shows how smokers can become ex-smokers by choosing to quit, developing a solid plan and identifying support from family and friends. The campaign follows Ethan Teicher, a real- life smoker who quit in front of the cameras for the campaign. Ethan's motivation to quit was his family.

The Foundation's report also indicates that 43,000 children are orphaned each year because of smoking related deaths.