Following up from previous heart warming post "Dangers Of Second Hand Smoke To Children", we'll highlight more case studies about the dark side of smoking and how second hand smoke will affect children's learning abilities and behavioral problems.
The common end results from smoking are lung cancer, heart diseases and yellowish teeth. But have you wonder what harm smoking will bring during the time you smoke? New researches show that during your normal leisure smoke, especially if you have kids, your kids may likely develop behavioral problems.
The research involved data collected from 55,000 children under the age of 12. Of these children, 6% lived with smokers, either their parents, or grandparents. So how did these second hand smoke receivers fare in their lives? 8% of them develop learning disabilities, 6% had ADHD and 4% had behavioral and conduct disorders such as bullying.
The worst part is, many of the victims develop more than one of these problems. Hillel Alpert, research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health said "After studying these children, we found that children exposed to second hand smoke in the home have a 50% higher chance of developing two to three behavioral disorders."
The researchers are still not sure exactly what trigger these symptoms in children. It could be the mom smoked during pregnancy, or frequent inhalation of second hand smoke that lead the children to these problems. But comparing to the incidence of non smoking homes, the evidence is clear.
The researchers said more than 274,000 children would not be suffering if they had not been exposed to second hand smoke in their homes. "These young adults are growing and their bodies are in developmental stage, which put them at a greater risk." said Alpert.
If you think second hand smoke will affect children in their learning disabilities, think again. According to American Cancer Society, second hand smoke causes:
- 300,000 lung infections in children under 18 months old,
- Severe asthma attacks for up to 1 million children,
- More than 750,000 ear infections in kids,
- Kills more than 46,000 people a year from heart disease,
- Kills more than 3,400 people from lung cancer.
Because of these, government in New Zealand has to step up and do more to prevent minors from suffering. Recently Parliament passed smokefree legislation to ban displays and advertising of cigarettes, and even increase the fines for selling tobacco products to under 18s, from $2000 to $10,000.
Dalton Kelly, chief executive of Cancer Society said the move was a positive one and advanced one more step to "denormalising tobacco" in New Zealand.
Welsh government also stand against tobacco and second hand smoke. He is considering to introduce a ban on smoking in cars with children, if the current existing anti smoking law fails to prevent children from exposing to second hand smoke. This move will make Wales the first European country to ban smoking in vehicles carrying children.
However, such legislation is nothing new. Australia, eight out of ten provinces in Canada, five states in United States, South Africa and Bahrain already imposed such ban. The main aim is to protect the children from second hand smoke, and indirectly encouraging the adults to quit smoking. "Every year, more than 5.600 people die from smoking related diseases that can be prevented, such as lung cancer." said first minister Carwyn Jones.
Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control agreed with the Welsh government's commitment. "Raising awareness of the dangers of smoking is essential. Another step is to enforce tougher laws to protect the children from the harmful toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke. Third way is to encourage smokers to use cigarette replacement products.' said Jean.
One of the highly recommend product will be the Electronic Cigarette. The magical component of the electronic cigarette is the e-liquid, which is made up of liquid nicotine. It is beneficial to the health of both the smoker and surrounding people when compared to smoke tobacco cigarette, since the e-cigarette vapor is pretty much harmless to the lungs and other parts of the body.
"When you smoke electronic cigarette, you produce vapor instead of second hand smoke. And the vapor is completely harmless, just like water vapor." said Les, an electronic cigarette lover. When you order your electronic cigarette starter kit online, all the basic necessary items such as rechargeable battery, electronic cigarette, charger, refill cartridges will be included inside and deliver to your doorstep, hassle free.
Of course there are other luxury items such as extra battery and carrying case to keep your electronic cigarettes safe from the weather. You can choose the type of flavors you want to smoke as well, such as cherry, menthol, etc … when you make your order.
So save yourself money and health. Don't let your love ones suffer anymore. Order your electronic cigarette starter kit today.