Warning: what are the effects of smoking on children's health?

According to the World Health Organization, effects of smoking smoking is the leading cause of disease, disability and avoidable deaths worldwide. Find out more about the effects of smoking on children's health.

Today, worldwide, over 10% of children under the age of 14 are exposed to tobacco smoke in their homes on a daily basis. This is a serious problem because children are much more vulnerable to the negative effects of smoking than adults.

Today we will take a closer look at the consequences of smoking on the health of our children.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking is the leading cause of disease, disability and avoidable deaths worldwide. Find out more about the effects of smoking on children's health

Smoking during pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy is generally very dangerous to the health of your baby. Exposing the mother to passive inhalation of cigarette smoke during pregnancy is also dangerous, but not as much as direct smoking. Smoking tobacco reduces a woman's fertility and increases the risk of miscarriage.

At the same time, studies have shown that smoking during pregnancy can have serious consequences in newborns. These include, but are not limited to, low birth weight, premature delivery, increased risk of malformations, a serious risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, etc.

There is no doubt that smoking during pregnancy is an unnecessary and avoidable risk to unborn babies.

Women who smoke should stop smoking as soon as they become pregnant or as soon as possible. Healthcare professionals also advise dads to quit smoking. Doing so helps to keep a smoke-free environment and helps the mother to get rid of this harmful habit.

For breastfeeding mothers, it is important to emphasize that tobacco may also pass into breast milk. This exposes babies fed in this way to the toxic effects of this substance.

Effects of smoking on children

Passive smoking is the exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke. Environment full of cigarette smoke means that we constantly inhale toxic substances that are released into the air by smokers. These toxins are extremely harmful to our health.

In children, secondhand smoke is strongly associated with an increase in respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia. It also leads to an increase in the incidence of ear infections.

In particular, we can say that second-hand smoke can lead to problems such as:

• Acute respiratory diseases. Tobacco smoke can cause up to 30% more infections, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis.
• Worsening of respiratory symptoms and the upper body in general. Such as sore throat, earache, cough and the like. Exposure to tobacco smoke irritates the mucosa of the respiratory tract. It can also cause discomfort in the eyes and nose.
• Asthma and worsening of asthma symptoms. Tobacco smoke increases the frequency of asthma attacks by up to 20%.
• Greater chance of developing lung cancer in the future.
• Greater risk of developing heart problems.

Children are particularly vulnerable to tobacco smoke because their bodies are not yet fully mature and developed. This means that they are unable to combat the damage caused by the toxic substances in tobacco in the same way as adults.

Must Read: TECNO POVA 2 x PUBG Campus Championship to start soon

Moreover, the number of breaths they take per minute is greater than that of adults - meaning they simply inhale more smoke.

How to prevent children from falling into the habit of smoking?

The risk that children will start smoking in the future is greater when their parents are smokers. When children grow up in a home where they witness frequent cigarette smoking, they are more likely to become active smokers as adults.

• In fact, the age at which children start smoking is getting younger. In such cases, the effects of smoking are much more severe than in adults and include, but are not limited to:
• It can cause growth delays as well as physical and mental development.
• Increased risk of diabetes and obesity.
• A predisposition to changes in behavior such as hyperactivity and difficulty concentrating.

Some studies show that teenagers who smoke cigarettes are more likely to consume alcohol and use hard drugs. They also engage in risky sexual behavior more often.

It should also be emphasized that the earlier a person starts smoking, the greater the risk it poses to their health. At the same time, starting to smoke at an earlier age makes it much more difficult to quit smoking.

Conclusions on the impact of smoking on the health of our children

According to the World Health Organization, smoking is the world's leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death. It is harmful not only to our health, but also to our children. It is they who are particularly exposed to harmful substances contained in cigarettes.

Therefore, we should avoid smoking in our homes and stay away from places full of cigarette smoke and its toxins. Today we have access to many tools to help you quit smoking. You can do it too! Get started today!