Exposure to secondhand smoke in infants: declining trends from 2001 to 2008?
OBJECTIVE
To define the trend in young children's exposure to parental secondhand smoke.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of data was done on families of infants between the ages of 6 and 24 months that had been enrolled for 2 cross-sectional studies in 2001 and 2008.


RESULTS
Data from 648 families were analyzed. Overall, 29.8% of children had been exposed to parental secondhand smoke; 32% in 2001 and 27.4% in 2008, (P value >.05). In all cases, the source of exposure was the father; in 2008, 4 families reported both parents as being habitual smokers. Ratio of indoor to outdoor smokers was 2.92 in 2001 and 0.93 in 2008.


CONCLUSIONS
The decline in the percentage of infants exposed to parental smoking is nonsignificant; parental indoor smoking has decreased significantly but remains at unacceptably high levels. Authorities responsible for the health of young children need to revise interventional policies.
Shiva
Farideh
F
The Department of Pediatrics, Shahid Beheshti University Medical Campus, Tehran, Iran. shivahfa@yahoo.com
Ahmad Reza Shamshiri
Ghotbi
Fatemeh
F
Shadnaz Fakhteh Yavari
D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution