Second Hand Smoke And Children
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Children today are facing a higher risk from tobacco
smoke apart from the teenagers and young adults who are both active and
passive smokers. Children are facing more dangers than adults as they
are exposed to second hand smoke, also known as passive smoke or
environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Children face great health hazards as
at young age they are in the developing stage and also their breathing
rate is faster than the adults.
A young adult generally breathes 15 to 16 times a minute while a child breathes more
than that. A child up to the age of 5 breathes more than 20 times per
minute and that can increase to 60 times
per minute. As the breathing is
more, they inhale more air filled with tobacco smoke. As a result the
lungs of the children receive a greater percentage of inhaled toxins
than those of the adults.
The different effects of smoking on the
health of the children are as follows:
1) Babies born to a mother who smokes during pregnancy are more
susceptible to be born underweight than to a mother who does not smoke.
2) Babies whose mothers smoke are more likely to suffer from sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS). Fetuses exposed to the chemicals of the
tobacco smoke are at an increased risk of SIDS.
3) Babies whose mothers smoke are at increased risk of learning
disabilities and may suffer from cerebral palsy.
4) The condition of the children who suffer from asthma have their
condition worsened by second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke may also be
the cause of a great number of new asthma cases every year.
5) Exposure to secondhand smoke may also be the cause of bronchitis or
pneumonia every year. In the US alone, almost 300,000 people suffer
from these two diseases every year.
6) Cigarette smoke inhaled by a person is responsible
for middle ear infections. This can cause hearing loss among children.
7) Children who are exposed to tobacco smoke have detectable levels of
cotanine in their bloodstream.
8) Children are also more susceptible to suffer from
respiratory heart diseases from second hand smoke.
The worst thing about all this is that children usually do not have
control over their surroundings. Children exposed to extremely smoky
condition for an hour inhale enough toxic materials which is equal to
smoking 10 cigarettes. You should keep it in mind that children depend
on you for healthy air. So, just think before you burn that cigarette to
ashes.