Secondhand Smoke and Our Children

Youth and Tobacco

• Every day about 6,000 youth try smoking cigarettes. More than 3,000 of these young people will become regular smokers.^[8]
• Of all young people in the United States who are currently under age 18, more than 5 million will die prematurely from tobacco related causes.^[9]
• The perception that tobacco use is normal is one factor that encourages adolescent tobacco use. ^[10]

Health Effects on Children

• Exposure to secondhand smoke increases children’s risk of ear infections, wheezing, cough, pneumonia and bronchitis. ^[11]
• An estimated 2,000 cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are caused from secondhand smoke each year.^[6]
• Every year 8,000 new cases of asthma and as many as 1 million cases of exacerbated asthma in children are diagnosed from secondhand smoke.^[6]