According to a recent study, smoking, asthma and bad academic grades are all directly related. Researchers at the Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia found that inner-city students in schools with the poorest academic

The study also found that children with asthma were more likely to experiment with tobacco and to be exposed to tobacco smoke than children without asthma, which has a negative effect on their grades. Dr. Salvatore Mangione, lead researcher for the study and associate professor of medicine for the university, explained the results in a press conference last Wednesday. "If a child grows up in a household with smokers, that child is much more likely to experiment with tobacco. Tobacco exposure, whether active or passive, is a major trigger for asthma, and asthma is a known cause of absenteeism in children, which can, in turn, lead to worse academic performance," Mangione said. Mangione and fellow researchers studied 6,727 middle school students in 65 Philadelphia public schools to determine the results. Of those students, about 6,000 attended schools managed by the Philadelphia School District (PSD), while 721 students attended the lowest academic performing schools, managed by a private organization called Edison Inc. Overall, 23.7 percent of PSD children and 24.5 percent of Edison children reported having asthma. Among those children with asthma, home exposure to environmental smoke was reported by 73.2 percent of the Edison children and by 64.5 percent of the PSD children. The results of the study were presented Oct. 29 at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Orlando, Fla. "Many parents and family members who smoke do not realize how tobacco exposure can impact a child's respiratory health," Mangione said at the meeting. "School-based programs are needed to educate parents and children on the dangers of tobacco exposure and experimentation and their adverse effects on asthma and other respiratory conditions." Former fellow Pennsylvania resident, Dr. Janet Brigham, is a research psychologist at SRI International and author of the book Dying to Quit, which details tobacco addiction and its debilitating effects. A long-time advocate for treating nicotine addiction, Brigham emphasized the implications of cigarette use in school children. "Tobacco use in childhood and adolescence may predispose people to use other substances, and in fact, teenagers who drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes even infrequently are 30 times more likely to use marijuana than are those who neither drink nor smoke," Brigham said. "Also, among teenagers with no other problematic behaviors, using tobacco, alcohol and marijuana even to a limited extent increases the risk of even heavier drug use such as heroin, cocaine, etc. by 17 percent." University of Wisconsin senior Carl Swanson said he is skeptical of these findings. "This study is absolutely ridiculous. I've smoked for years and some of my best grades were when I was smoking the most," he said. "There is no relation between the two." The Center for Disease Control's website advocates early education and action to prevent kids from smoking. Measures to decrease smoking in youths endorsed by the CDC include supporting only businesses that don't sell tobacco to kids, making sure all school events are tobacco free and calling a local cancer heart or lung association to get involved.

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