Tobacco is not only harmful to the person who smokes, but also to those around them and especially to babies, who are more sensitive to toxic effects. A study has just revealed that sleeping with smoking parents triples the level of nicotine in the baby.
Newborns who sleep with their parents suffer what is known as third-hand smoke. Toxic particles of tobacco are impregnated in the clothes, skin and hair of the parents and transmit their harmful effects by infecting the baby.
Smoking of parents is associated with an increased risk of infections, respiratory diseases such as asthma and tension, as well as increasing the presence of carcinogens in children. It also significantly increases the risk of sudden infant death. For all these reasons, which is not a small thing, they believe (and I also believe) that it should be considered as a major public health problem.
The study, carried out in Catalonia, in which 96 primary care centers participated, analyzed the cases of 1,123 babies under 18 months of age with at least one smoking parent.
They analyzed the hair samples of 252 babies to determine their nicotine levels, and made follow-up visits at three and six months. 73% of adults claimed to smoke or allowed smoking at home, while 83% of the hair analyzed showed high levels of nicotine.
They found that babies who sleep in the same room as their parents have three times higher nicotine levels to those who do it in another room. But the solution is not to deprive the child of sleeping with his parents if everyone wants to, but to eliminate the harmful factor, which is tobacco.
Ventilating the rooms is not enough to reduce the concentration of toxins, experts said. If parents are not prepared to quit smoking, they recommend that they at least quit smoking at home and in the car.
I believe that smoking is a problem whose solution should start from home. I understand that it can be very difficult to leave, but for the health of the children it is well worth the effort. Do not you think?
