Although maternal smoking is most significant, paternal smoking is also very significant in the first two years of life. Wheezing and coughing are found more frequently in children of smoking parents, especially in the first year of life, and the frequency of these symptoms increases with the number of parents who smoke. Studies have also shown that small but definite deficits occur in lung function and lung growth in children of smoking parents, and that the amount of damage is proportional to the duration of exposure. Perhaps the most harmful long-term effects of parental cigarette smoking is the now proven association between passive cigarette smoke exposure and the development of lung cancer. Even though a child may never smoke a single cigarette, there is an increased risk over the non-smoking population of developing lung cancer as an adult.
Similar risks are also present for the development of heart disease.
Parents have enormous influence of their growing children's behavior. Few, if any, parents want their children to take up a habit that can cripple their lungs and cut short their lives. If you must smoke, please do not smoke inside your home. Merely smoking in a separate room from your child's does not prevent his or her exposure to the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Also, do not smoke in your automobile for the same reasons.