Secondhand smoke can affect your children's health
About 1 out of every 10 children under the age of 6 in the United States breathes secondhand smoke at home at least 4 days per week. Studies show that older children whose parents smoke get sick more often. Their lungs grow less then children who do not live around smokers. They have bronchitis and pneumonia more often. They cough and wheeze more. Secondhand smoke can also trigger a child's asthma attack, make asthma symptoms worse, and even cause new cases of asthma in kids who had not shown symptoms before. More than 40% of children who go to the emergency room for asthma live with smokers. A severe asthma attack can be deadly.
Children who live with parents who smoke also get more ear infections. This often causes fluid to build up in their ears and they may need surgery to have ear tubes placed for drainage. Some of these problems may seem small, but they add up quickly: think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must take the child to the doctor. And this doesn't include the discomforts that the child must go through.
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