Smoking Cessation: Significance and Implications for Children

Abstract

A number of people in the USA who are still current smokers remain a staggering figure. Although this number continues to decrease, there is still a considerable amount of second-hand smoke. More importantly and for the purpose of this review, the detrimental effects of passive smoke in children is significant. We will not review the specific health effects of passive smoke, but for pediatricians, in particular, it is important to place in perspective programs that are available to influence the parents of children to stop smoking. Indeed, approximately 25% of all children aged 3-11 live in a household with at least one smoker. Despite the increasing number of communities in the states that have instituted restrictions or complete bans on smoking in the workplace and in many public areas, the principal site of smoking remains the home.

Effect of Passive Smoke Exposure on General Anesthesia for Pediatric Dental Patients

“…3 Our study did not suggest this, as there were no significant differences in occurrences or severity of adverse respiratory events between the ETS (þ) and ETS (À) groups. It should be noted that all children presenting for treatment under GA in the Dental Surgery Center are required to have a preoperative history and physical examination completed by their primary care physician, and potentially, this prevents children who are symptomatic in either group from progressing to treatment.…”

“…1 Previous research has detailed negative health consequences of ETS to include increased likelihood of respiratory infections, middle ear infections, asthma onset and severity, sudden infant death syndrome, and even dental caries. [2][3][4][5] Jones and Bhattacharyya (2006) demonstrated that children who are exposed to ETS at home are more likely to experience adverse respiratory events while under or recovering from general anesthesia (GA) for a wide variety of procedures. 6 However, another study in 2006 noted that although healthy children with a positive history of ETS did have lower preoperative peak expiratory flow rate, their recovery from anesthesia was unaffected.…”