Children were known to be particularly sensitive to passive smoking. A new study has provided figures on its effects on the youngest. Scientists from Hong Kong Medical University have shown after eight years of investigation that a baby exposed to cigarette smoke at home has a 1 in 3 chance of being hospitalized for various infections in their first year. Their results were published in August, in the journal Tobacco Control.
For the purposes of the survey, 7,400 children were followed from birth to their eighth birthday. 41% of them were exposed to cigarette smoke at home. According to the researchers’ conclusions, smoking within three meters of your child considerably increases his risk of developing infectious diseases, especially in the first six months.
After adjusting for all their data on breastfeeding or mother’s age, they claim that the risk of hospitalization for serious infections doubles in infants who are second-hand smoke compared to others. A third of exposed newborns suffer from serious infections, such as respiratory infections, before their first birthday. In children born prematurely and frail, the link between the two remained visible until they were eight years old.
According to the Academy of Medicine, tobacco smoke is the most dangerous source of domestic pollution, due to its high concentration of toxic products, but also because we are exposed to it at any age and for long periods of time. (Source: Inpes.sante.fr)