Tobacco Takes Silent Victims:

America’s Children

 

Unintended exposure to secondhand smoke is critical burden on America’s children, says foundation responsible for effective truth® campaign

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Legacy Foundation^® announced today in a new report, Secondhand Smoke Tearing Families Apart, that children bear a significant health burden from exposure to secondhand smoke. Despite increased awareness about the dangers of smoking in recent years, 46 million adult Americans still smoke.  This widespread use of tobacco is not only having expected long-term effects on the health of smokers but also more immediate effects on America ’s children.

 

Passive exposure to secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), puts young people at risk for serious health consequences, including low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, asthma and ear infections.  While the health consequences are devastating, the foundation’s report also details the significant economic costs of treating children with smoking-related illnesses.

The foundation found that, in 2001, tobacco’s effects on children included:

 

“Smokers know that their addiction is harmful, but they predict that their smoking will hurt only themselves, and they think that will happen years down the road,” said the foundation’s President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. PH. “This research shows us that tobacco isn’t just killing years down the road. It is killing today, and its silent, innocent victims are children.” 

 

The foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) outlined three immediate steps smokers can take for their children’s health:

·         Make your home smoke free

·         Keep your car smoke free

·         Stop smoking for your children 

 

“Parents need to stop smoking for their children - not only are children who live in smoke-filled environments more likely to get sick but they are also more likely to smoke as an adult than their peers,” said Dana Best, MD, MPH, FAAP, AAP Committee on Environmental Health. “An important first step to help parents quit smoking is learning about the smoking cessation resources in their community. The more parents know about the process of quitting the more likely parents are to succeed.”

 

A small reduction in tobacco smoke exposure would spare thousands of children from devastating health problems. In this report the foundation found that if states were to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand smoke by one percentage point, the national outlook would be:

 

The campaign follows Ethan Teicher, a real-life smoker who quit in front of the cameras for the campaign.  Ethan’s motivation to quit was his family.

“I made the decision to quit for my family,” Teicher said.  “I want to see my kids grow up, get married, have their own kids.  I don’t want to cheat them of having a dad around for all of those experiences.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to share my experience and hopefully help other fathers to quit -- to have more time with their families.”

 

The foundation’s report also indicates that 43,000 children are orphaned each year because of smoking related deaths.

 

The American Legacy Foundation is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, DC, the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use through grants, technical assistance and training, youth activism, strategic partnerships, counter-marketing and grass roots marketing campaigns, public relations, and outreach to populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states and the tobacco industry. 

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