Secondhand Smoke Can Make Children Suffer Serious Health Risks

Breathing secondhand smoke can be harmful to children's health including asthma, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis and pneumonia and ear infections. Children's exposure to secondhand smoke is responsible for: (1) increases in the number of asthma attacks and severity of symptoms in 200,000 to 1 million children with asthma; (2) between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections (for children under 18 months of age); and, (3) respiratory tract infections resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations each year. The developing lungs of young children are severely affected by exposure to secondhand smoke for several reasons including that children are still developing physically, have higher breathing rates than adults, and have little control over their indoor environments. Children receiving high doses of secondhand smoke, such as those with smoking mothers, run the greatest risk of damaging health effects. A few basic actions can protect children from secondhand smoke: Choose not to smoke in your home and car and do not allow family and visitors to do so. Infants and toddlers are especially vulnerable to the health risks from secondhand smoke. Do not allow childcare providers or others who work in your home to smoke. Until you can quit, choose to smoke outside. Moving to another room or opening a window is not enough to protect your children. For more information on secondhand smoke, see EPA publications and Take the Smoke-free Home Pledge 1-866-SMOKE-FREE (1-866-766-5337) You can become a child's hero by keeping a smoke-free home and car. Secondhand smoke can cause children to suffer bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infections and more severe asthma attacks. Read More About Health Risks... Join the millions of people who are protecting their children from secondhand smoke. Take the Smoke-free Home Pledge Today! Pledge to Keep Your Home and Car Smoke-free in 3 easy steps: Go to the Pledge Page and read helpful information on making your home and car smoke-free. Simply enter your five digit zip code and push the submit button. (Your pledge is completely anonymous). You're done! You can even get your own Smoke-free Home Pledge Certificate by double-clicking on the certificate. Proudly display this to let your children, family and visitors know you have taken an important step to keep your home and car smoke-free.

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