• Building a smoke-free working environment
  • Smoking causes a series of dangerous diseases.
  • Building a smoke-free medical environment

Cigarette smoke is one of the causes of many dangerous diseases, seriously affecting the health of direct smokers and people living in environments with cigarette smoke, especially children. Because in young children, the lungs are not fully developed, resistance is not high, so they are very sensitive to stimulants and toxins in cigarette smoke.

Children who live with smokers are at risk of being exposed to or inhaling secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke comes from two sources: passive smoke (smoke exhaled by the smoker) and secondhand smoke (smoke emitted from the end of a burning cigarette, which accounts for the majority of cigarette smoke in a given environment).

Children need to be protected from the harmful effects of tobacco, especially at home. (Illustration photo)

Dr. Ho Thanh Dam, Head of the Department of Communication - Health Education , Center for Disease Control of Ca Mau province, said: "Second-hand smoke is 2-3 times more toxic than the smoke emitted by smokers, because it does not go through the smoke filter. If a child is in a room with several smokers for about 1 hour, he will absorb as many toxic chemicals as someone who smokes 10 cigarettes a day. Children who breastfeed from mothers who smoke will be at the greatest risk, because chemicals from cigarette smoke will mix in breast milk, the harmful effects are equivalent to chemicals from cigarette smoke in the environment around the child."

When children are exposed to cigarette smoke, their respiratory function will be reduced, their health will be poor, and they will be at increased risk of lung infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, and will often cough and wheeze. Children with asthma who breathe air containing cigarette smoke will have more asthma attacks and their condition will become more severe.

Passive smoking causes long-term consequences for children, such as premature aging of blood vessels, thickening of blood vessel walls, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke later in life, as well as increased risk of many diseases. In addition, cigarette smoke also increases the risk of acute and chronic otitis media, increased middle ear secretion. The consequences of otitis media will lead to deafness, causing economic burden for families and children's lives.

"To limit the impact of cigarette smoke on children's health, the best way is for family members to quit smoking as soon as possible. When going out, limit children's exposure to cigarette smoke. In addition, parents should take their children for regular health check-ups to screen for the risk of respiratory diseases caused by passive smoking, as well as find ways to help children stay healthy and develop comprehensively," Dr. Dam recommended.

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Source: https://baocamau.vn/khoi-thuoc-la-gay-hai-nghiem-trong-suc-khoe-tre-em-a123475.html