Aishwarya Iyer
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Written By: Aishwarya Iyer | Updated : August 7, 2018 1:24 PM IST
It's dinner time, you are sitting on the couch with your little baby on your lap and you're waiting for the food to be served. But you get a notification from your boss about the video conference that is about to start in the next 10 minutes. You're too stressed and annoyed. You decide that the much-needed break will be going to the balcony for a quick puff of cigarette. You go for your puff, have mint and neatly kiss your baby and go for the call. Seems like a routine phenomenon, right?
But sadly, you missed out on knowing that passive smoking or smoking in any form for your little bundle of joy is doing more harm and NO good.
Effects of passive smoking on kids
Every cigarette contains about 600 ingredients and lighting this up releases about 7000 chemicals. Now, even if you're not a genius, you'll understand that even when your kid is just passive smoking, he/she is taking in many of these chemicals. They could actually end up getting 1 of 69 cancers caused just by the smoke.
Apart from cancers, smoking could damage your baby in many ways. Here are a few of them, according to Dr Pallavi A Joshi, Consultant, Psychiatrist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Whitefield:
1) Passive smoking is hazardous to children as it can lead to premature death.
2) It upsurges the threat of coronary heart disease by 25-40%, it can also be responsible for asthmatic attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections.
3) It is a lurking danger exposing these kids to over 7000 chemicals of which 69 are cancerous in the smoke.
4) Passive smoking increases infections like colds, lung problems, bronchitis and pneumonia.
5) It can also lead to severe learning disabilities, and physical growth retarding.
Stillbirths and passive smoking
A recent study by the Demographic and Health Survey reported that exposure to second-hand smoke or passive smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirths, low birth-weight as well as malformations in the child. Reading this may actually make you depressed but know that this is true.
"Tobacco smoking exposure releases nicotine which can cause vasoconstriction, vascular resistance and decreases the flow of blood to the foetus, leading to stillbirth and infant death or babies being born with birth defects. It decreases the oxygenation causing damage to the development of organs," explained Dr Joshi.
Avoiding passive smoking
The only way to ensure that your kid doesn't fall prey to passive smoking is by ensuring that there is no smoker in or around your baby at ANY point in time.
- Avoid smoking-zones. If you do have a smoking zone, prohibit children in the area.
- Eat at smoke-free restaurants.
- Do not entertain friends and family members to smoke at home.
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