Taking your family outside for some fresh air when the weather is nice can be lots of fun. However, your children can be exposed to harmful secondhand nicotine even outdoors, if anyone around is smoking.
What does this mean for your kids? The effects of nicotine on the body are serious. Nicotine changes heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing patterns.1 Children who are exposed to nicotine could be at a higher risk for certain illnesses such as asthma, and babies could be at risk for sudden infant death syndrome.2 Kids' mood, memory, and appetite also may be affected.3
Even if parents who smoke make efforts to protect their children from secondhand smoke-such as smoking outdoors, smoking next to an exhaust fan, or changing clothes after smoking outdoors-children can still be exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.4 A recent study found that children whose parents smoke outdoors absorb twice the amount of nicotine into their bodies as children whose parents don't smoke.5 Particles found in cigarette smoke are so tiny that they can attach themselves to clothing and hair. Later, when the person who was smoking goes inside, the particles are absorbed by the carpets, curtains, furniture, and even dust. When kids come into contact with the smoker or anything in the house that has been exposed to these smoke particles, they absorb nicotine into their bodies.6 This secondhand transmission of nicotine occurs whenever a child encounters a smoker-even if you, the parent, do not smoke.
As a parent, you influence your children in so many ways. You can protect your children by making an effort to keep them away from secondhand smoke-even outdoors. You can also influence your kids by modeling the healthy behaviors you want them to develop for themselves.
| Studies show that parents are usually the primary role models in their children's lives.7 The choices you make in your life send a message to your children about the values you feel are important. |
You can also send your kids a clear message by establishing a no-smoking rule for your children, or even for the whole household. Kids whose parents smoke are more than twice as likely to begin smoking than kids whose parents don't smoke.8
So, when you go outside to enjoy the good weather, spend time playing with your kids. Take them to the park. Go for a hike. Play a game, or just work together outside. Showing your children healthy activities to enjoy outdoors will help them to choose their own healthy behaviors in the future.
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1. If you smoke, your children are more likely to become smokers.
True Correct.
False Incorrect.
2. Most parents who smoke try to protect their children from secondhand smoke.
True Correct.
False Incorrect.
Most smoking parents make efforts to protect their children from secondhand smoke. However, despite these efforts-such as smoking outdoors, smoking next to an exhaust fan, even changing clothes after smoking outdoors-a child can still be exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.
Johansson, A., G. Hermansson, and J. Ludvigsson, 2004. How should parents protect their children from environmental tobacco-smoke exposure in the home? Pediatrics 113: e291-e295, last referenced 1/4/2007.
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Sources
American Lung Association
WebMD: Quit Smoking So Your Kids Won't Start
National Women's Health Information Center: Independence from Smoking—For Parents
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Got a Minute? Give It to Your Kid—Parenting QA
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