| Children are vulnerable. No one wants to hurt a child. | | | | breathe in secondhand hand have an even greater risk |
| Keep in mind that every time you light a cigarette, you | | | | of chronic ear infections, which may lead to hearing |
| are affecting everyone around you, including loved | | | | loss. |
| ones. The risk of negative health effects from second | | | | Second hand smoke is also responsible for increasing |
| hand smoking is great for all children that are exposed | | | | everyone's risk of heart disease. Second hand smoke |
| for cigarette smoke. | | | | has been scientifically proven to cause nasal cancer, |
| It is a well known fact that second hand smoke is a | | | | cervix cancer, breast cancer and even cancer of the |
| major cause of children's illness. One of the most | | | | bladder. |
| frequently affected areas in the bodies of children | | | | Smoking while pregnant changes the placental blood |
| whose parents smoke is the lungs. These children are | | | | flow, although the long-term health effects of these |
| more prone to everything from sinus infections to | | | | changes are not known. Some studies suggest that |
| much more serious chronic respiratory problems. | | | | smoking during pregnancy causes birth defects such |
| Moreover, these children are more prone to bronchitis | | | | as cleft lip or palate. Smoking mothers produce less |
| and even pneumonia. For teenagers, second hand | | | | milk, and their babies have a lower birth weight. |
| smoke can cause pneumonia, lower respiratory | | | | Maternal smoking also is associated with neonatal |
| infections, upper respiratory irritation, and increased | | | | death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, the major |
| severity of asthma and asthmatic symptoms. | | | | cause of death in infants between one month and one |
| Secondhand smoke doesn't just affect their little lungs. | | | | year of age. |
| It has also been connected to chronic ear infections. | | | | Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy |
| For those of us who have gone through endless | | | | are more likely to suffer behavioral problems such as |
| sleepless nights with a crying child, multiple rounds of | | | | hyperactivity than children of non-smoking mothers. |
| antibiotics, steroids and tubes, ear infections are the | | | | Modest impairment in school performance and |
| stuff of nightmares. All children are susceptible to ear | | | | intellectual achievement has also been demonstrated. |
| infections in the first eighteen months, but those who | | | | |