Passive smoking would otherwise be “passive” on children’s health. A new scientific study has demonstrated the harmful effects of this bad habit on children’s weight by promoting the increase in waist circumference and BMI.
Researchers from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine Research Center (Canada) analyzed data from the Longitudinal Study of Childhood Development in Quebec. They found the effects of passive smoking on children’s weight by comparing the behaviors of 2,055 families and the results on their offspring.
Findings from this study reveal that by age 10, children who have been exposed to smoke intermittently or continuously are at risk of having a waist circumference up to 1.5 centimeters larger than average. . And their BMI is likely to be 0.48 to 0.81 points higher.
“Exposure to second-hand smoke during infancy could cause endocrine imbalances and impair neurodevelopmental functioning at this critical period in hypothalamus development, potentially damaging vital systems that grow and develop tremendously after birth and up to mid-childhood, which is the period our study focused on, ”explains Linda Pagani, psychoeducational professor and study author.
An underestimated danger
“We suspect that our statistics underestimate the link between childhood obesity and parental exposure to smoking, because parents are somewhat embarrassed to report their actual tobacco consumption,” concludes Linda Pagani.
The conclusions of this study remind us that passive smoking is a real public health issue. Indeed, the World Health Organization recalls that passive smoking is responsible for more than 600,000 deaths per year in the world, or one in 100. And if we take into account only deaths caused by tobacco , passive smoking is responsible for one in 10 deaths. Exposure to second-hand smoke is responsible each year for 379,000 deaths from ischemic heart disease, 165,000 deaths from respiratory infections and 36,900 deaths from asthma and 21,400 lung cancer deaths. Passive smoking also increases the risk of developing breast cancer by 10%, according to the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
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