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Smoking is deleterious not only for the smoker’s health but it also affects the health of the people exposed to the smoke given off by the burning end of the cigarette and the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Second hand smoke contains more than 40,000 substances, many of which can cause harmful side effects in the people exposed. Now several studies have proved that exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy or post natal period can lead to several chronic conditions of the childhood.

Children are particularly vulnerable to smoke as they are still developing physically, have a higher respiratory rate and cannot control their environment. Mothers smoking during pregnancy or post natal period increase the relative risk of their children developing conditions like asthma, obesity and mental health disorders. Besides these conditions, dental caries is also a common condition in these children.

A large cohort study led by Kwok et al found that when father of a growing fetus smokes and the mother is exposed to it, the resultant exposure of the growing fetus to this passive smoking leads to subsequent obesity in his childhood. Similarly, a study by Brion et al found that maternal smoking has a profound effect on the child’s behavior, especially in the development of his social skills. A study by Joad et al found that maternal smoking is associated with an early development of asthma in the child while Beeber along with his associates found that children exposed to maternal smoking have more severe symptoms of asthma. Another study found a causal relationship between maternal cigarette smoking and an increased thickness of the airways in the baby leading to sudden infant death syndrome.

All this studies draw home one point and that is – more emphasis should be laid on ways to mitigate the influence of smoking in childhood, starting right from when a baby is conceived. Nothing concerns more to a would-be mother than the health of her baby. Pregnancy is the right time when women can be motivated to kick the butt. Not only will it be good for her health, but it will also save the child from the chronic diseases which develop as a result of exposure to smoke.

References:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/1/e251.full
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/575001_3
http://www.epa.gov/smokefree/healtheffects.html

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Exposure to Cigarette smoke leads to several diseases in children

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