Parents urged to quit smoking to help children breathe easier

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 672, 4 February 1997, Page 12

Parents urged to quit smoking to help children breathe easier

Asthmatic chil dren breathe easier when their parents give up Smoking, says a leading asthma researcher, Dr Philip Pattemore. "Numerous studies have shown that when children are exposed to tobacco smoke their symptoms get . worse," says Dr Pattemore, of the Christchurch School of Medicine paediatric department. Children exposed to tobacco smoke also have more asthma attacks than other children.

"Passive smoking may not cause asthma specifically but it does seem that for children who do have asthma, their symptoms are more severe if they live with a smoker," he said. However, when parents gi ve up smoking, their children don' t get as sick. Popu-lation-based studies have proved that asthmatic children experience a decrease in asthma severity when they are no longer exposed to tobacco smoke. "Parents can improve their children' s health by stopping smoking," says Dr

Pattemore. A recent Canada study found that if parents are aware that smoke will aggravate their child's asthma, the child will be exposed to fewer cigarettes and the asthma will be less severe. Dr Pattemore says another effect of smoking around children is an increased risk of lower respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia and of upper respiratory illnesses such as middle ear infection and sore throat. Smoking in pregnancy

has also been linked to wheezing in infancy. "It may not be the same thing as asthma but it does seem to be associated with respiratory disease in early life and admissions to hospital." Dr Pattemore says there

are a raft of other health risks to children exposed to tobacco smoke — these are evident at all ages from the womb into adult life. "There' s no doubt about it - when parents give up smoking, their children benefit," he said.