Posted on 05/23/2006 11:53:56 AM PDT by Moonman62
SAN FRANCISCO -- A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with behavior problems in children and pre-teens.
While the study examined 5 to 11 year olds with asthma, the findings most likely could be extrapolated to include children without asthma who "act out" or experience depression and anxiety, according to Kimberly Yolton, Ph.D., a researcher at the Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's and the study's main author
The study will be presented at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time Sunday, April 30, at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in San Francisco.
"This study provides further incentive for states to set public health standards to protect children from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke," says Dr. Yolton.
Dr. Yolton examined 225 children and pre-teens exposed to at least five cigarettes a day. On average, the children were exposed to approximately 14 cigarettes a day. The children were enrolled in an asthma intervention study. Dr. Yolton included additional measures to assess child behaviors.
To measure exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, Dr. Yolton measured levels of cotinine in the children's blood. Cotinine is a substance produced when nicotine is broken down by the body and can be measured in blood, urine, saliva and hair. It is considered the best available marker of environmental tobacco smoke exposure.
Dr. Yolton found a relationship between cotinine levels and increases in acting out; increases in holding things in, often manifested by anxiety and depression; increases in behavior problems as rated by parents, and behavior and school problems as rated by teachers; and, decreases in the ability to adapt to behavior problems.
"The greater the exposure to tobacco smoke, the greater the problems these children had," says Dr. Yolton. "Behavior problems in children have increased from 7 to 18 percent over the last 20 years for reasons that are poorly understood. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for child behavior problems."
In the United States, about 25 percent of children are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in their own homes, yet more than 50 percent of children have detectable levels of cotinine in their blood, according to Dr. Yolton.
Previous studies have found link between tobacco smoke and birth weight, number of infections and other health problems, including asthma exacerbations. In a groundbreaking study in 2002, Dr. Yolton found that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with decreases in certain cognitive skills, including reading, math, and logic and reasoning, in children and adolescents.
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Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is a 475-bed institution devoted to bringing the world the joy of healthier kids. Cincinnati Children's is dedicated to transforming the way health care is delivered by providing care that is timely, efficient, effective, family-centered, equitable and safe. Cincinnati Children's ranks third nationally among all pediatric centers in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. It is a teaching affiliate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The Cincinnati Children's vision is to be the leader in improving child health. Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.
I'll take my chances (while I still have the perogative).
Perhaps my post about exceptions to the rule not being understood was missed.
We do NOT know, last I checked, other than it seems to be related to genetics, why SOME very small minority of the population seem to have (relatively) fewer health problems from smoke and smoking.
We DO KNOW that the vast majority of the population have their health compromised seriously and their life seriously shortened.
One can ignore facts all day long; all week long; all month long all year long; all decade long; all century long. A given individual may escape the sharp blade of the statistical guillotine. Most people will not.
I prefer to be charitable and considerate toward the majority, rather than selfish and inconsiderate.
Heck yeah! They were SMOKIN'HOT 70'S JIVE JAMMIN!!!!
And now for your listening pleasure, none other than your favorite theme song by Brownsville Station;
Sitting in the classroom Thinking it's a drag
Listening to the teacher rap Just ain't my bag
The noon bells ring You know that's my cue
I'm gonna meet the boys On floor number two!
Smokin' in the boys' room
Smokin' in the boys' room
Now, teacher, don't you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school.
A-checkin' out the halls Makin' sure the coast is clear
Lookin' in the stalls No, there ain't nobody here
Oh, my buddy Fang, and me and Paul
To get caught would surely be the death of us all
Smokin' in the boys' room
Smokin' in the boys' room
Now, teacher, don't you fill me up with your rules
But everybody knows that smokin' ain't allowed in school.
All right!
nOW mOTLEY Crue did this too. But their version was LaMe.
"escape the sharp blade of the statistical guillotine."
Man, you're awesome!
Being a bass player for 20 years now, I'm really diggin' you rock-music lyric writing ability.
I could come up with whole ALBUMS, just gleaning these tid-bits of gold from your posts.
ROCK-ON!!!!!!!!
What you eatin' there boy? Crayons?
I'm just speaking their language.
Don't forget to wag your finger and stamp your foot.
LOL!!!
I'll try to remember, thanks.
BS STUDY....
"She never ever had behavior problems. She was a good kid."
My husband has been an on-again, off-again smoker for decades now. Our son is 19, in college...no behaviour problems and they spent many hours in the truck, traveling, while DH smoked.
They also spent a lot of time together seeing the sights, fishing, hunting, camping, sitting around smokey campfires. Do ya think that comes into play as far as the "behaviour" problems go with pre/teens?
Wonder how many of the kids in these studies come from INTACT families, smokers or not? ;)
Now go away before I taunt you a second time!!!
The study's facts are lies. And the antismoking movement is inherently evil. It is about gaining control over others by lying and cheating.
Tobacco use has been on the decline for the last 20 years, behavioral problems have been on the increase for the last 20 years, and the conclusion is that the tobacco smoke is causing the behavioral problems.
"Mostly, I'd agree, except when it comes to defenseless children in a smoker's home." ~ As said by Quix
You know, I was going to just let this go, but I have to say my piece and then I WILL just let it go.
What, exactly, have you done in your life, to protect "defenseless children" in or outside of a smoker's home?
Have you adopted a child? I have.
Have you raised any of your siblings children while they were in prison on drug charges? I have. (My two nephews.)
Have you saved a child from drowning? I have.
Have you taught kids CPR and First Aid? I have.
Have you taught Sunday School? I have.
Have you been a Den Mother (or Scout Leader?) I have.
Have you worked a Rape Crisis Line and had a child of TEN call you? I have.
Have you received a hug from an Iraqi child after you gave them a stick of gum? A LUXURY in their upside-down world? I have. (Operation Desert Storm vet, '91-'93.)
Have you worked in and contributed to Food Pantries in your community to feed hungry kids? I have.
Have you collected 'Toys for Tots' with the Marines? I have.
Have you made blankets and quilts for "The Linus Project?" I have.
Have you arranged counselling sessions for local kids to get together and chat whose parents have been shipped overseas for Operation Desert Storm and now Operation Iraqi Freedom? I have.
Have you rocked 'crack babies' at your local hospital? I have.
Have you worked in a clinic talking young women OUT of abortion and steering them toward adoption instead? I have.
Smokers are sooooo easy to pick on, especially on an open forum where no one really knows you. They're the current "pariahs" and unjustly so. My SIL, the drug addict, thief, drunk driver, mental case and general drain on society, who left her children for DH & I to raise doesn't smoke. *GASP* I guess in your opinion, she'd be a Saint because she "never smoked" around the boys, LOL! They're messed up to this day because they didn't have their bio-Mom and will more than likely have a hard time dealing with women as young adults as their mother (justly) rots in prison.
If all you do to "help defenseless children" is pick on and look down your nose at smokers, based on a bogus study, then you're full of it.
Children have much more desperate and pressing problems in this world than whether their Mom or Dad "lights up" around them. *Rolleyes*
Just putting things in perspective for us all. :)
*Steps Off Soapbox*
The study's facts are lies. And the antismoking movement is inherently evil. It is about gaining control over others by lying and cheating.
- - - -
I know of 0.000000000000000% evidence of that in the scientific literature. It's conceivable there is some. Science as a whole does not have a good record on that score. But certainly the majority of the studies I've read are solid studies.
It does appear, however, that the perspectives hostile to this study are . . . interestingly . . . not at all interested in
the true solid evidence.
"Many of them are mentally ill and should be committed and treated for their psychosis."
*Applause* :)
If secondhand smoke causes children to become rebellious and antisocial, then please explain how the behavior of children has become more rebellious and antisocial in the decades since overall smoking rates have declined significantly in the United States. Defend your postition.
Diana! Thank you SO much for all of the above!!!! God bless you!!
I second that!
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