In general, children of smoking mothers absorb more smoke into their bodies than children of smoking fathers because they spend more time with their mothers. Children who are breast-fed by a smoking mother are at the greatest risk because chemicals from the smoke are in the breast milk as well as the surrounding air. Their symptoms are also more severe and last longer than those of children who live in a smoke-free home. The impact of passive smoke is worse during the first five years of life, when children spend most of their time with their parents. The more smokers there are in a household and the more they smoke, the more severe a child's symptoms are.
Passive smoking is especially hazardous to children who have asthma.
Exposure to smoke causes more severe asthma attacks, more emergency room visits, and more admissions to the hospital. These children are also less likely to outgrow their asthma. You can stop smoking if you get help. Sign up for a stop-smoking class or program. If you need some self-help reading materials, call your local American Lung Association or American Cancer Society office.