Children's exposure to second hand smoke at home: a cross-sectional study in Portugal.
Second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is a major indoor pollutant that causes serious health problems for all exposed, especially children. Children are often exposed to SHS at home, due to parental or other households' or guests' smoking. This study describes Portuguese children's exposure to SHS at home (total and by Portuguese main regions). In 2010/2011, a questionnaire was applied to a sample of Portuguese children in the 4th grade (N=3187, mean age 9.05±0.7 years, 51.1% male). Descriptive analysis, chi-square tests and crude odds ratios were performed. Of the participants, 62.9% of those with smoking parents and 19.2% of those with non-smoking parents were exposed to SHS at their home. Parental smoking varied significantly among regions and was significantly associated with children's exposure to SHS at home. Children's exposure to SHS at home was high, especially if their parents smoke. Children living in Lisbon Region presented the highest SHS exposure rate. The association of SHS exposure with geographic regions suggests the influence of social and contextual factors on smoking behaviour and on tobacco control effectiveness. Our findings highlight the need to effectively prevent children's SHS exposure at their home and to develop tailored tobacco control measures by region.
Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal; CIS-IUL, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Av. Das Forças Armadas, Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: pvitoria@fcsaude.ubi.pt.
Paulo D
PD
Vitória
Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
José Cunha
JC
Machado
Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
Ana Carolina
AC
Araújo
Centro de Investigação de Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal; Centro Hospitalar da Cova da Beira, Unidade de Cessação Tabágica, Covilhã, Portugal.
Sofia B
SB
Ravara
Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, R. Das Taipas, 135, Porto, Portugal.
Catarina
C
Samorinha
Serviço de Pediatria, Hospital de Braga, Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e da Saúde (ICVS), Escola de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Minho e ICVS/3B's - Laboratório Associado, Braga/Guimarães, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
Henedina
H
Antunes
Divisão da Promoção da Saúde, Câmara Municipal de Viana do Castelo, Passeio das Mordomas da Romaria, Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
Manuel
M
Rosas
Unidade de Tabaquismo, Faculdade de Psicoloxía, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Elisardo
E
Becoña
Instituto de Educação, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal.
José
J
Precioso
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
Child welfare; Parent–child relations; Smoking; Tobacco; Tobacco smoke pollution