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.
They say they have a "smoking gun", no pun intended, and yet leave out the mechanism and instead rely on anecdotal statistics to support their claim.
Color me EXTREMELY dubious. My parents both smoked around me, but not either of my sisters. I was in no way a "problem child", nor do I suffer any current health problems. My sisters on the other hand are both obese and the Youngest, and furthest from any second hand smoke, was the worst behaved.
While it could be one exception does not invalidate the rule without more correlation, it certainly does point out the idiocy of relying completely on correlation instead of causation.
"That construction on reality is very far from my construction on reality. "
Man, what a killer song title!
I could really jam out on that one!
Good post.
Total crock of crap here. Does ANTONE call these people out on their phoney research ?We need an email addy for this .
I suggest that smoke is the least of problems for a lot of kids.
"Dr. Yolton examined 225 children and pre-teens exposed to at least five cigarettes a day."
Gee...of those 225 kids studied, a pre-teen, asthmatic or otherwise, would NEVER sneak a ciggie behind the barn now, would she? And she'd NEVER think to bring her ten year old sister in on the deal because she'd make a better "accomplice" than "rat," Right? It's GOT to be the fault of their terrible upbringing. ROFLMAO!
Another POS study that proves nothing and garners even more bogus "research" money for Dr. Yolton.
Jsu wrote to then here
https://secure.cchmc.org/gbl_contact/request.asp
JUNK SCIENCE
Perhaps a braver soul will rise to the occasion.
I am trying to reform my helping addiction by limiting my outreach to at least possible successes, if not probable successes.
Sorry to have to decline due to my inadequacies.
They say they have a "smoking gun", no pun intended, and yet leave out the mechanism and instead rely on anecdotal statistics to support their claim.
- - - - -
Certainly correlation does not equal causation--in every case, for sure.
HOWEVER, these stats are NOT "anecdotal" statistics. Seems to me that an assertion fussing about correlation and causation would be enormously more accurate about "anecdotal statistics" and there being none in this study.
It's long been very fascinating to me that the attitudes of most "defenders of the smoke" on such threads seem to be very similar,
in my experience
to the attitudes of kids with behavior problems.
I wonder if there's a correlation.
Wouldn't it be interesting if a valid study would show a direct correlation between smoke filled environments and good behavior?
I don't smoke. But I'm a great defender of adults being free to use a LEGAL and TAXED substance should they desire to. :)
Can we make them better parents by taking away their cigaretes?
>"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." <
While the percentage of adult smokers went down, the availability of junk TV aimed at kids went up, as did the hours children spent in day care. We won't even mention the number of marriages that ended in divorce.
But no, obviously the increase in behavior problems is due to tobacco.
Just recently you said adults these days should know better than to smoke around children. I liked that. And when someone posts something reasonable such as #50, I usually respond.
Otherwise, some of the other posts are just smokers venting their anger. I let them stand on their own. They speak for themselves.
in my experience
to the attitudes of kids with behavior problems.
I wonder if there's a correlation.
There may well be a correlation between having limited perception and being easily fascinated. Cats are a good example.
LOL, I don't know, but word is they make have taken a sip or two.
Me too, as long as it's in an airtight container by themselves. :)
However, over the time period in which the researchers noted the children's behavioral issues and smoke exposure, their parent exposure would have correlated with the smoke exposure too. The fact that 20 and 30 years ago, far more parents smoked around their children (not to mention than children spent far more time at home) further confounds any conclusions that might have been reached by this study.
GovernmentShrinker?
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